A Slave's Tale
by kittyface27
Summary: Luffy is a slave working in a castle. When one of the masters, Zoro, finally approaches him, romance ensues. But how long can Luffy and his family stay after what Master has done? What will happen next? T for mild sexual content and violence.
1. The Story Begins

**New story here! I'm hoping this fic gets some attention since my other one still in progress is so sad that there's not much love for it, but that has nothing to do with this one. The romance is a little less than the drama, since it focuses mainly on Luffy, and being a slave is a busy life after all. Some angst involved, but not overwhelming. Enjoy~**

 **Song listened to: This Is Me (The Greatest Showman). It actually fits with the story!**

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A slave boy with black hair walked back to the slaves quarters under the castle, his head down, exhausted. Luffy walked as quickly as he could without his cheap shoes making any noise. People didn't like noise in the castle, and especially when it came to the slaves working there. They were to be quiet and not speak to anyone, or they'd risk being hit or abused in some way, physical or otherwise.

Luffy, the slave with black hair, knew his way around the castle quite well. He had been here since he was four after all. All he could remember was working here. And he was good at it. He'd been trained to be this way. Some of the slaves were still children, who did light labor, like cooking or cleaning. They didn't do the difficult yard work, or serving the members of the royal family which usually ended up with verbal or physical abuse. Luffy was still young, and had proven to not be good at yard work or cleaning. So now his job was to serve as a messenger and deliverer.

It was a great deal of exercising, going around the castle. He was the only slave allowed to run, since they family like things to be quick. But he still kept quiet as he walked. There was no reason for running at the moment since it was the end of his shift and he would go to sleep for a few hours before he returned to his work.

Though Luffy was quite meek and always looked blank while he did his work, he was the life of the workforce after hours. He was the one who got away with sneaking food from the kitchen at night. He took so little, and the cooks never snitched on him since he brought them food as well. Luffy was loyal, but also mischievous. He'd be able to get the others to sing and laugh with him, making sure everyone went to bed happy. He didn't like seeing people sad, and he saw it quite a bit here. So he did his best to help the others to not be sad sometimes. Everyone looked forwards to Luffy's end of shift because he was the one to cheer everyone up and get them all midnight snacks.

He reached the cellar door and crawled through the small entrance. There were multiple entrances around the castle to the underground. This one was the one only the children used, since it was cramped. Adults couldn't fit through there, and even though Luffy was sixteen, he was still very slight and could fit easily in there. It was also thanks to his size and knowledge of the castle that he could sneak through the right exits into the kitchen. No one would suspect someone climbing up the laundry shoot and into the hall near the kitchen. He loved sliding down it and enjoyed eating quite a bit. There were no large meals for the slaves. They were given the bare minimum, which was why most of them were relatively thin, besides the muscled ones who did the heavy labor. Luffy was skinny and short, and quite flexible and dainty. He was everyone's favorite.

But that night, Luffy wasn't feeling well. He hadnt felt well all day, but he continued his work like usual. Slaves werent allowed to fall ill. So he suffered in silence. Everyone were concerned when Luffy arrived and went straight to bed. He fell asleep quickly. The others weren't angry with him since they didn't get their food. They could tell Luffy didn't feel well, and gave him space. Literally.

Everyone slept as far from Luffy as they could. They couldn't risk all of them falling ill. The doctor of the slaves would check him over tomorrow. For now, he gave everyone a face mask. They were made of cheap fabric and string, but they had been washed and were reusable. No one resisted and slept the rest of the night with the masks on.

When Luffy awoke, he was sweating quite a bit. His head and throat hurt. But he had to get to work, so he stood up, but his legs were shaky. This wasn't good. His job was to _run_ everywhere. If he was unable to even stand…

Luffy had to sit back down and his throat was on fire. Everyone was waking up, and he was saddened and felt guilty for being the reason all the slaves had masks on. The doctor sat up and walked to Luffy, and told him he was going to check him over. Luffy nodded grudgingly. He didn't want to be sick. He had already taken his once a year sick day to care for one of the children who had fallen ill. He wasn't sure what to do.

The doctor asked him to open his mouth multiple times and took his temperature with the cheap thermometer the slaves were given. 102 degrees fahrenheit. The doctor came to a conclusion:

"You have something called strep throat. You cannot work today. It is very contagious and you need bed rest," the doctor said slowly, trying to drill into Luffy's head that it would be bad to work around the royal family. "If you get one of the masters sick, it will not be good, Luffy. You must not work today. Especially don't touch any food you are not about to eat."

"But I already took my sick day! I have to work!" Luffy said, panicking.

"You have a fever! You cannot run or you will make it worse! Do as I say as your doctor," the man said harshly. Luffy was a stubborn boy, but he needed to know.

"I will get in trouble if I skip my messaging," Luffy said sadly. He had never been hurt before and he was scared to. He had always worked his job diligently and had never stepped out of line. Therefore, he had never been injured by the royal family. "Maybe I can ask Master if he will let me work outside today."

"Luffy, no! It is hot outside! It will make you sicker. Just stay in bed today. Understand?!" the doctor shouted at him. Luffy was too stubborn for his own good when it didn't come to work duties.

"I don't want to be hit!" the boy shouted fearfully. "I don't want to make them mad!"

"Sobeit. I will take you to Master and explain to him what is going on. He will no doubt let you go if you tell him you could be contagious. Put this mask on now," he said curtly. It was days like this that he despised being a slave. Everyone didn't like it, but it was never going to change, so they accepted it. But the doctor was unable to help his patients most of the time because they had to work. Luffy nodded. Maybe Master would let him off since he'd never been sick before.

The walk through the tunnels was hard for Luffy today. He was exhausted and felt horrible and clammy. His body obviously wanted to sleep, but he knew he had to work. He had to be supported by the doctor, who was shorter and older than him. None of the slaves were very heavy, but the old doctor was still having trouble practically carrying poor Luffy.

The walk was long and laborious for both, and when they exited the hatch in the hallway where Master's den was that he worked at in the morning and spent most of the time in. No one knew what he did in there all day. The doctor knocked on the door and waited for the okay to open it. When the door did open, both he and Luffy got on their knees and bowed.

"What do you want? Why aren't you working?" Master demanded curtly. He recognized both of the slaves, but no one knew the slaves' names except each other. The two were "doctor" and "messenger".

"The messenger has fallen very ill. His sickness is quite contagious, so I would be grateful for you to pardon him for today and tomorrow and allow bedrest," the doctor explained, both still bowing their heads on the ground.

Master thought for a moment. He knew if the messenger boy got someone else sick, it would be justifiable to kill him, but he was good at his job and followed orders (that he knew of) well.

"Very well. He has two days bedrest, but once he is back to being healthy, he had double shifts. Understood?" the man said. The doctor thanked him very much and escorted Luffy back to the door leading down and put him in bed, having him still keep the mask on as he slept. The doctor hoped two days would be enough. But Luffy had never gotten sick before, so hopefully his immune system would give him a break and help him become well again quicker.

Zoro walked down the halls, very bored with life, when he saw the messenger boy being helped to the cellar door. He had red cheeks and was obviously very sweaty and out of it. Zoro almost went over to ask them if he was alright, but they were slaves, and that would be wrong. It was bad enough he already had a crush on him.

Luffy was in bed rest for the two days he was given, fed plain chicken soup that the cooking children made carefully and lovingly for him. They wanted him back on his feet for both him, and then fun he gave them. The two nights were very plain for everyone. They constantly checked on him, masks still on and mittens on when they touched him. They wanted to avoid a breakout of illness as best as they could. They knew Luffy felt bad about it, but they waved off his apologies. He'd never gotten sick before after all.

The morning he had to work again, he knew it'd be a long day. He'd work during the night as well, though he didn't know if there was anything to do, or if being sleep deprived was just his punishment. Oh well. He'd do it without a word, not wanting to get injured.

He dressed in their uniforms, which were coarse purple clothes that were itchy. Only the special slaves were given other clothes. The laborers wore sleeveless shirts and shorts. The family didn't want them to stop working due to heat stroke. Luffy was given a sleeveless shirt as well, though it had the gold pattern across the garment like the others. He wore tight shorts, those purple and designed as well. He forgoed shoes most of the time. They were loud as they clicked on the tile and carpet. So he tied them to his belt loops as he ran. They were cheap slip on shoes, so they werent an inconvenience.

The thing he hated dressing in the most was the choker wrapped around everyones' necks. It was leather with a string running through it. When they did something wrong, the string was pulled, which tightened the leather around their necks, choking them as the first type of punishment. Luffy had never even had that happen to him, thankfully.

He crawled through the tunnel and exited near the dining room, heading for his first stop. The second he reached the Master's den, Luffy bowed and asked respectfully, "Anything to deliver or retrieve, Master?"

Master simply told him to go get Zoro for him. He didn't elaborate and Luffy didn't ask. "As you wish," Luffy replied and ran away and up a flight of stairs. He never tired of his work. He was used to it from years of doing it everyday as long as the royal family was awake. He was glad Young Master didn't make him stay up until early morning.

He reached the hall with all of the bedrooms and sped down and to the first large door occupying the quarters. He knocked quietly on the door, but loud enough for him to hear him. The door opened slowly and Luffy bowed. Zoro said nothing.

"Master wants to see you, Young Master," Luffy told him respectfully. "Do you have anything to deliver or retrieve?"

"No. I'll be there soon. Are you still sick?" Zoro asked, trying to keep the concern out of his voice. He was glad Luffy bowed the whole time he spoke and couldn't see Zoro's red face when he saw him.

"I am no longer ill. I apologize for not working for the two days," he said. Luffy was slightly surprised that the young master had asked him something personally, but the slaves knew they had to answer any question asked of them.

"That's good," Zoro replied. "You are dismissed." Luffy thanked him and ran down the hall the the Mistress' room. She was no doubt prettying herself. She usually liked him to bring her wine in the morning. It was every day she asked this.

He knocked the door just as loud as he had for Zoro's, who was discreetly watching the boy from his room. Luffy heard the woman tell him to enter. Again, he bowed respectfully. "Do you have anything for me to deliver or retrieve?" He already knew what she was going to ask.

She replied as she was at her vanity table putting makeup on. "Wine," the Mistress said simply. Luffy bowed deeper before he ran out, even though she never looked. He could make disrespectful faces to her and she wouldn't even notice. Not that he did or would do such a thing.

As soon as Luffy ran back the way he came, Zoro pulled his head back into his room and he watched as Luffy zoomed past to the stairway and to the kitchen.

Zoro wished Luffy wasn't a slave. Then he could actually talk to the messenger. He knew it was wrong to like him as he did, but he couldn't help it. Luffy was respectful, good looking and had a nice laugh and smile. He knew Luffy was a cheerful person when he wasn't working.

When he was younger, Zoro had explored the slaves' tunnels and watched in secret as the messenger was the life of the party and has a nice laugh and blindingly bright smile. That was when he first started liking him. He'd never had a real conversation with the boy, but oh, how he wanted to. So Zoro had had a crush on him for over five years, but was never brave enough to do anything about it.

Zoro was never around happy people in the castle. And he was only allowed basic communication with certain slaves or he'd be reprimanded. Luffy was the only slave to speak in short conversations with those other than his fellow slaves.

The day was a long one for Luffy. He knew tonight wouldn't relieve him of stress by sleeping, and wasn't looking forward to it. He knew what he had to do to stay awake and only hoped he wasn't caught. He had seen many drinking coffee, and was told by another slave that the hot brown liquid was what people drank to stay awake. Last night, he'd asked the cook children to walk him through the process. They all were against him doing such a thing, but Luffy told them he would be fine and hide in the big washroom while he drank it.

Even when everyone was asleep, Luffy ran from room to room in case anyone woke up and they wanted something. He hoped nobody came accustomed to his night time shift.

It was midnight when he finally approached the kitchen. He only kept one light on, and it was dim. He went through the motions he was told of to make the drink. Once he did, he decided he didn't want to go into the bathroom and instead sat behind one of the massive dinner tables on the floor in the dark.

The drink was disgusting to him, but he had already started to fall asleep and had many more hours to work that night. He had to stay awake and competent to do his job. He hadnt heard or seen another walk into the dark room.

Zoro was hungry and walked through the dark castle and down the stairs towards the kitchen. He was surprised to see the light was on and he could hear a strange sound. He stood there watching for a moment. When he saw the mess of black hair, he knew it was the messenger boy. He was brave to enter the kitchen without permission.

He watched as Luffy went to the table and sat down on the floor behind it out of view of the door. He heard a quiet disgusted sound, and then the boy was silent. Zoro could smell the strong scent of hard coffee waft from the kitchen. If Luffy was up this late, then it made sense for him to try and stay awake, for if he fell asleep on the job, he'd be in trouble. That bothered Zoro. He hated seeing the chokers on the slaves. It was cruel, but it was what it had always been to Zoro. He saw no way to stop it with his father already disappointed in him.

Zoro knew this was the only time he'd be able to talk to Luffy freely without risking being seen by unwelcome eyes. He approached the kid and spoke.

"You are awfully brave to cook after hours," Zoro said lightly. But apparently that was the wrong thing to do as Luffy jumped in surprise, accidently knocking the cup that still had some coffee in it on the floor. He gasped, terrified he'd be punished. He didn't think anyone would come to the kitchen this late. When he stole food every night, he did it quickly with no lights on. Why did he stay? Why didn't he go to the bathroom after all? Damn.

Luffy stood up and bowed to Zoro, breathing quickly. Zoro told him he wouldn't hurt him.

"I apologize for making a mess. I will return shortly," he said and sprinted away to the broom closet near the kitchen. He returned with a mop and some water, though the spill was small. He then wringed the mop and emptied the bucket down the sink, retrieving a washcloth from the closet and wiped the water up, the spill now gone. He bowed again.

"Why are you awake?" Zoro asked curiously, his face pink. He was finally talking to him!

"Sleep deprivation is my punishment for the two days I was absent." Zoro frowned at this. He didn't like the ways his dad did things. Luffy was a diligent and loyal worker and shouldn't have been punished in any way for something he could not control.

"Is being a slave awful?" Zoro asked. Luffy shook his head untruthfully.

"It is a great honor to serve a royal family," he said immediately. It was obviously something he had to say. He wasn't allowed to speak badly of his owners. Well, in front of them. The slaves bashed them as much as they wanted after the long days of working for them.

Zoro sighed. "Did you eat enough dinner today?" he questioned. Luffy needed to eat if he had to stay up so incredibly long. Luffy told him he was fine but his stomach rumbled and told Zoro differently.

"Pardon me," Luffy said, thoroughly embarrassed. He had not counted on this. Both being caught and being spoken openly to.

"I will make you something to eat," Zoro said, though he wasn't very good at cooking.

"I am fine. There is no reason to sully your hands to make me food. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I just need to stay awake for tonight. I won't return here without permission."

"I will make you food if I want to," Zoro said. Luffy shook. This wasn't going well. He was going to be hit. Oh, how stupid he was to do this! "What is your real name?" Zoro asked as he pretended to cook, but only got a box of cornflakes and some milk in a bowl. He brought the food back to Luffy, who was sitting at the table stiffly, with a cup of water. Luffy stared at the bowl for a moment.

"My name is Luffy," he answered. He still didn't touch the food. He couldn't grasp why Zoro was being kind to him. Slaves are not worth kindness. Well, that's what Luffy had been taught.

"Eat," Zoro commanded shortly.

"Yes, Young Master," Luffy said quickly, picking up the spoon and neatly eating. He knew Zoro would be offended of his usual eating habits he used in private.

Zoro frowned. He didn't like how nervous his crush was acting. But he couldn't be surprised based on how the slaves were treated. "You can call me Zoro."

Luffy froze. Was this a test? He'd gotten caught breaking rules. What was the right answer here? "Master would not like that," he replied, hoping that was the right thing to say. He was very uncomfortable and wished to do what he did everyday. He wanted to run.

"I am a master, too. I want for you to call me by my name."

"Yes, Zoro," Luffy said nervously. He finished the simple meal and carefully drank the milk from the bowl. He was rarely able to eat good food unless it was the mastrers' scraps, and didn't want to waste anything a master had made for him. He got up slowly and walked back into the kitchen to clean the dishes and silverware he had used.

When he came out, he just wanted to flee already. He was increasingly worried while Zoro was in the room, though it seemed like it should be the other way. "I must get back to my work," Luffy said and bowed, then ran from the room like the plague. Zoro frowned. He had wished Luffy would relax around him, but he seemed to have made it worse. Crap.

He moped back to his room, seeing Luffy zoom by once, but he didn't know Zoro was there. He had _finally_ spoken to him, and Luffy seemed to have been uncomfortable with that. Zoro knew Luffy had been here almost his whole life, and yet he'd never really spoken to him. He knew Luffy had rules and do's and don'ts drilled into his mind. Zoro's actions had no doubt confused him. He sighed.

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 **Ta da! I hope it's a good start. The last two chapters are soooo dramatic and suspenseful, so hang in until then! Gonna be 7 chapters and around 26,000 words since, like usual, I like writing longer fics.**


	2. Can We Be Friends?

Luffy was so exhausted by the time the sun came up. He wasn't sure when he was supposed to sleep. Double shifts two nights mean two days and two nights of running or not doing anything in the dark. No chance to sleep during that time. When he made his rounds in the castle, he always felt nervous approaching Zoro's door, but he had a job he had to do. He knocked on the door hesitantly.

Zoro heard the knock on his door his heart started beating faster. He couldn't stop thinking about Luffy being all alone and exhausted all night. He really wanted Luffy be more comfortable around him, even if it was just a little bit.

He opened the door to Luffy bowing like usual. "D-do you have anything to deliver or retrieve?" Zoro heard the stutter, Luffy sounding awkward.

"No, but I'd like you to come inside my room," Zoro said, his voice strong though he was very nervous.

"I have work… I can only stay for a few moments. Is that okay young mast- Zoro?" he asked, still at the door. Zoro said yes. Luffy stood straight and slowly walked into Zoro's room. Luffy had never been in one of the bedrooms here. He was limited to the halls, dining hall, outside a few times and the slave quarters. Well, those were where he was _supposed_ to stay. But he explored during his breaks sometimes. He was terrified of punishment, but boredom was an enemy as well.

Zoro's bedroom was very big. He'd never seen it inside since he bowed the whole time he was in front of the door. There was a large bed with dark blue blankets on it and a dresser and some work out equipment. It was plain, but also very lavish. Luffy stood in the room awkwardly, waiting for Zoro to do something. He walked over to his bed and sat down.

"I'm sorry if I made you nervous last night. I didn't mean to," Zoro said sincerely. Luffy finally looked at him and Zoro saw the exhaustion evident on his face. The dark circles under his eyes and heavy lids.

"There's no need to apologize. It… confused me," Luffy confessed. "We aren't supposed to talk to the masters at all. I'm the only one who has simple conversations with them. And the masters are not supposed to know our names," Luffy explained, looking at the floor. They were also not to make direct eye contact with their masters. Luffy had broken that rule many times, but only with Zoro and his mother. Never with Master. He would be angry.

"I just want to be your friend," for now… "You have noticed I'm an only child and no one is exactly my age."

Luffy's brows furrowed. Things werent making sense. Why did Zoro want to be friends with a slave? "Aren't there other royal families? I don't know since I don't work everywhere."

"No, there's no family living near us who are nice. They all order the slaves around," Zoro replied.

"That's how slaves are treated everywhere I assume," Luffy said hesitantly. He felt presumptuous. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business," the boy said. He bowed and slipped out of the door with an "I have to go".

"Wait!" Zoro said. Luffy stopped leaving, standing right outside of Zoro's door. Zoro was still a master, and Luffy couldn't defy him. Zoro opened his door more. "Will you be my friend?" he asked.

Luffy just nodded once and ran off. He wasn't as fast as usual since he was exhausted. Zoro noticed this, but said nothing and walked into his room sadly. Though he'd finally spoke with Luffy, knew his name and how he wasn't that happy person as a slave, he still had a crush on him. He also knew it would be difficult to be his friend and spend time with him without Luffy being punished. If he was, that would be Zoro's fault and he would feel sick with that. Luffy was obviously terrified of being punished from what Zoro had seen last night.

He hated his dad for doing this to Luffy for all these years.

Luffy almost skipped the Mistress' room where she was, but that would be breaking rules. He knocked on the door and did what he usually did, and like always, he left to get her wine. He almost fell down the stairs on his way to the kitchen. He was thinking about getting coffee again, but he was afraid of getting caught. And he knew Master wouldn't like him asking for something after his mercy when Luffy had gotten sick not long ago.

Suddenly, he longed to not be a slave. He had never known any difference, but the fear he felt last night was weighing heavily on him. What would he do if he actually was punished? He'd always been afraid to, but last night was different. He couldn't breathe he was so terrified. He found all the others who had been punished but were still able to function amazingly brave. Not him. Yes, he was brave enough to do his job, which included talking to the Master.

Luffy only trotted back to Mistress' room, not wanting to trip and break one of her precious wine bottles. But she noticed he was slower today. Her wine wasn't coming fast enough for her liking. He arrived at her door with the wine, doing his best to look normal, though he couldn't do anything about the circles under his eyes, not that he knew they were there.

"You're slower today, messenger boy," Mistress said and pointed her finger towards herself. Luffy never poured her wine for her, but apparently today she wanted him to. He hoped he didn't spill it.

"I apologize. I'm just a bit slow for everything today. I did not mean to make you wait," he said with as much respect as she could. He poured a generous amount of wine into her glass and bowed before he excused himself. It was time to go to the Master to ask if he had anything for him to do, and it was the time of the morning where Luffy went to the kitchen to tell them what everyone wanted for breakfast, though it was that he had to ask Master first and foremost. Then was his wife and Zoro. He would wait while the children slaves cooked until the food was almost done, when he went to alert the masters that their meals were ready. Though his work wasn't the hardest physically, he did an awful lot.

While he waited for food, he usually ate a small meal himself, but only the scraps of the food not put on the plates. He sprinted to Master's den because he didn't want to be late for him.

He knocked on the door, which was open and got on his knees. It was only for him that the slaves bowed to the floor. He demanded more respect than the others.

"Do you have anything to deliver or retrieve, Master?"

"No, not right now," he said curtly.

"What would you like for breakfast?" Luffy questioned, pulling out the small notebook he always kept in his pocket and a dying pen from the clip on his shirt. Master told him what he wanted and Luffy excused himself with one more bow, now heading upstairs to the Mistress, who should be on her way down the stairs already. Master woke up earlier than her to go to work. She usually slept later than him, as did Zoro, who tended to go to bed after midnight. But he usually spent the night in his room, which was why Luffy felt safe to break the rules and drink the Mistress' coffee and steal the food every night.

Mistress met Luffy on the stairs and told him what she wished to eat. Though she was closer to the kitchen than he was, he always got there long beforehand. No one knew what the Mistress did between leaving her room and eating her meal. She wanted a complicated dish with stylized ingredients. Because Luffy had to write so fast, since he was reprimanded for asking for a second time, no one but him could read it.

Zoro answered his door and opened it to Luffy, as usual getting what he wanted for the meal. When Zoro smiled at him, Luffy felt uncomfortable. He had agreed to be Zoro's friend, and he did want to, it was still strange to be treated like something other than a lowlife. His meal was much simpler than his parents. Luffy bowed out of habit and ran back to the kitchen, not slower than he usually was. Mistress had already brought it up, so he would not risk it again.

He gave the orders to the kitchen slaves and sat down, uncharacteristically out of breath. He hated working double shifts.

"I'm fine. Just tired," he replied when one of the kids asked how he was. "I can't wait to sleep again," he said with a genuine smile towards them. All of the slaves were his family, so he was a lot more open with them.

"What did you do all night?" a girl asked as she cooked the eggs carefully. No one liked it when the masters found something wrong with their food. Luffy stood up and walked to the bar separating the large kitchen from the larger dining hall.

"I made coffee," he whispered to them. They all gasped. "And I got _caught!_ " he whisper/shouted.

"Why were you not punished?!" a boy who was cooking the chicken for Master's meal asked in shock.

"It was Young Master who saw me. I spilled on the floor too. He seems nice, but scary, too. What if he is being deceitful and is just waiting for me to do something to be punished?" Luffy told him. After a few moments of small talk with them, the food was almost ready and he scarfed down the scraps he got and ran to get the masters.

The food helped him and he was now running the same speed he usually did. He alerted all of the royal family that their meals were done. Luffy ran off before them so he could bow at their entrance with the kids, like usual for every meal. The cooks never got complimented, but Luffy assured them the food was delicious.

Luffy sat on the smaller table near the wall with the kids, waiting to clean the dishes and for Luffy to have an order. Luffy had brought out his notepad and the kids were playing tic tac toe and quietly talking.

Zoro usually watched Luffy when he saw the boy, but it wasn't like this. Zoro noticed Luffy was actually talking to the others and they were smiling, covering their mouths to try and not laugh. He watched as Luffy put his finger in front of his lips to silence the others even though they were already being pretty quiet. Zoro then looked back to last night and earlier that morning when Luffy looked so blank or uncomfortable. He wished he could get Luffy to talk to him like he was the slave children.

"Clean our plates," Zoro's father commanded, wiping his mouth with a napkin. The kids quickly walked to the table and began to take the dirty napkins and plates to the kitchen to clean. Luffy really didn't have anything to do right after breakfast, since Zoro didn't have classes until later and Master told him to keep an hour away between each time he asked if he had anything for Luffy to do. Usually, during this time, Luffy would just run around aimlessly, but during this break, he felt if he was alone, he was going to fall asleep and miss his rounds. So he offered to help clean the plates.

No one said anything of it as Luffy slipped his notepad into his back pocket and clipped the pen to his shirt and went to the broom closet to began to wipe down the table as the other slaves cleaned the dishes and kitchen.

Zoro had other ideas. He knew Luffy didn't really do anything when he had no assigned task. Twice a day, he visited the outside laborers to ask if they had anything to report. When no one was around but him and them they'd talk leisurely as Luffy helped carry things for them. He had to make sure he took his shirt off and turned it inside out to wrap around his waist to keep his shorts clean from whatever work he was helping with.

Luffy hated free time. He always had to do _something_. He was restless a lot of the time and sometimes became bored with running around the castle and wanted human contact with his friends. Even when people were on shift, they enjoyed Luffy's visits because he was able to lighten the mood a lot of the time.

"Messenger boy, can I talk to you?" Zoro asked. Everyone froze, even Luffy. The cooks looked at Luffy, alarmed and worried. Was he in trouble? Luffy licked his lips nervously and handed the kids the towel he'd used to wipe the table for them to wash. He then turned around and quickly walked to Zoro. But his smile was gone and his posture was noticeably stiffer than it was when he sat at the table with his fellow slaves.

"Yes?" Luffy asked Zoro after he bowed to him.

"Please come with me," Zoro said, surprising Luffy. No one said "please" when they gave an order. The two walked out of the large dining room and into the hallway, out of view of the still shocked kids working in the kitchen. Luffy followed Zoro obediently as they walked down the hall, but not to Zoro's room. Instead, Zoro lead him to the sun room. Luffy had never been at the part of the castle because it wasn't in his domain. He mostly stuck to the upstairs hallways and the kitchen and sometimes the entrance hall to go see his fellow slaves. He rarely went to the first floor.

Luffy's eyes widened as he was lead into the room. It was very pretty. Three of the walls were made up of only glass, as was the room. Ivy was growing up the glass walls and wrapped around the roof. There were flowers outside, that were very well taken care of. But of course they were, since slaves did the gardening as well, and he helped them sometimes. Zoro sat at the table, but Luffy continued to stand. He didn't have permission to sit yet.

"You can sit," Zoro told him kindly. Luffy sat, sitting up straight and resting his arms on the glass table.

"May I ask a question?" Luffy asked.

"You don't have to ask for permission to do anything when you're with me, okay?" Zoro replied kindly.

"Why do you want to be _my_ friend? And why now?" the slave questioned. "I've been here with you for as long as I can remember. I see you multiple times a day."

Zoro licked his lips and then spoke the truth. "Five years ago, I walked through the tunnels and watched all of the slaves talk with each other. Everyone seemed to happy, and it looked like you were the life of the party. And… you have a nice smile," Zoro told him shyly, his face pink. Luffy furrowed his brows.

"Should I go get the doctor? Your face has turned red," Luffy said. If Zoro got sick, it would be on him and if Master knew Zoro was talking to him, both of them would be in a bind.

"It's fine. It's just hot in here."

"Oh okay. So… why now? Five years ago is quite a while," Luffy said hesitantly. He didn't want to seem rude or nosey.

"I was always nervous you'd say no to being my friend," Zoro said. The truth was he was too flustered to have a real conversation with the boy he had a crush on.

"Why did you think I'd say no?" Luffy questioned.

"You're a slave and I'm one of the 'masters' in the castle. I thought you'd hate me because you are technically my slave. You have to work for me, so I felt that you would have a grudge against me due to our positions," Zoro concluded, watching Luffy's face warily.

Luffy didn't answer for a moment, not sure how he was supposed to reply. He decided to use the truth. "None of the slaves hold a grudge against you. You don't really interact with most of us besides meals and my messages. You haven't ever punished any of us as I know of. I am the only one who thinks that you don't like being here," Luffy said. "Oh, I apologize for my bluntness. It is not my place to say such things-"

"You're right, though," Zoro cut him off. "I don't like being here. I don't like having slaves or seeing them punished. I dislike my father because of his cruelty and he dislikes me as well. I hate it here."

Luffy looked at him sadly. "You never considered running away?"

"No. There's nowhere for me to go," he replied simply. "Have you guys considered running away?" Luffy looked uncomfortable. He didn't know Zoro personally much. But it wasn't as if Luffy was admitting to the planning of a mutiny.

"Some have… but most of us can't read or write or know beyond basic math. We don't have an education and don't have any skills in living on our own. We couldn't function outside of the castle, as much as we hate to admit it." Zoro frowned at this. He had never cared about math or history, but he had a feeling those working unwillingly would want an education. He took his for granted.

"Why can you?"

"My job requires writing. I only know basic words to read and write. No one else would be able to read my writing, but it seems to be improving. I don't know math except addition and subtraction," Luffy told him, slightly embarrassed. But he knew it wasn't his fault he had basic education. Probably lower than that, actually.

"I have tried teaching the others how to read, but I'm not very good at it," the slave said. Zoro smiled. Luffy was so kind.

Luffy then asked the question he'd been wondering about the moment that morning Zoro asked him to be his friend. "Won't Master be mad if he knows we're friends?" Luffy had a feeling he'd be punished if Master found out, and it scared him. He didn't know if being friends with Zoro was worth that. He'd never say that, though. It would be cruel to say that to him when he so badly wanted Luffy to be a friend. His only friend. Yes, Luffy was a slave. But he had a family. Zoro had no one. Luffy didn't know if he was going to be his friend out of fear, pity or just wanting to be his friend, too.

"We'll keep it a secret. I'll take the blame if we're caught being friendly with each other. We can just visit with each other at your breaks. Does that sound okay?" Zoro questioned. He was worried Luffy would say no due to his fear of punishment. Zoro honestly didn't know which of the two his father would get angry with. Probably both, but he hoped he'd get more than Luffy. After all, Luffy had to follow orders. He'd just say he forced Luffy to be in his company.

"Okay," was all Luffy said in response and sat relaxed a little bit. The two had a pleasant conversation, but Luffy was still slightly worried.

Zoro really wanted to see Luffy's smile. He didn't want to see this nervous and somewhat fearful expression towards himself. He would make him smile and laugh if it was the last thing he'd do.

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	3. More Than Friends

Luffy was able to visit with Zoro throughout the day, following Zoro's instructions on where to go when when Luffy first made his rounds. When Luffy told his family he was hanging out with Zoro between shifts, they looked at him strangely. When they all frowned at him, he gave a short and edited version of why Zoro wanted to leave. The kids had been the most understanding because, at meal times, Zoro often asked Luffy to follow him, though he sounded curt when he said so.

Luffy gave content smiles when he walked away with the young master. Some of his fellow slaves warned him that, if the two were caught, Luffy would be punished. Luffy went straight to bed after that. He had that thought often, but so far, the two friends hadnt been caught, and Luffy was not suspicious during his many rounds.

Everything else stayed the same. Same routine most of the time, same messages, same way he was treated lowly by Master. Luffy was very thankful that he hadn't been caught stealing food or brewing the coffee yet.

When Luffy confessed to Zoro that he stole food at night before going to bed, Zoro had just laughed. The two rarely spoke about sad topics, but Zoro told him many stories. Zoro had even read a book to Luffy because Luffy couldn't read whole sentences. He was a bit embarrassed about his lack of intellect, but Zoro pointed out many times that it wasn't Luffy's fault at all.

It was only a week before Luffy wore a true smile and laughed his unique laugh. Zoro's face turned red at this because Luffy was just so cute. Luffy truly liked talking with Zoro and playing simple old and dusty board games. The two once thought Mistress had seen Luffy enter the room, so they soon started making fake letters for him to deliver. That way it looked like he went in just to wait for something for him to deliver. Still, it was strange he was entering a master's bedroom, so they only went in there sometimes. Zoro was often stationed at somewhere Luffy had been told so no eyes watched him.

Of course Luffy still did his work as well as he had been before he became sick and sleep deprived.

Zoro found one day that he no longer had a crush on his small best friend. He had fallen in love with him. His favorite parts of the day were when he and Luffy spent time together. He watched Luffy over the weeks, trying and hoping to see any change in the way he looked at him. He tried to not show his adoration openly at the boy.

Zoro had seen Luffy's little portable notepad had drawings in it, and they were good, so he asked to have a portrait drawn of him. Luffy did his best, and it turned out well, but the whole time he was embarrassed. He'd never liked when anyone had watched as he drew. But he didn't want to be rude and knew Zoro would say nothing of his nervousness and if he thought it wasn't a good drawing. But Zoro had loved it and framed it behind his bed so, if either of his parents came in, they wouldn't see it without looking for it specifically.

After a month of successfully secretly and sneakily being friends with Zoro, his heart beat faster when Zoro smiled at him. He didn't particularly like the feeling. It was uncomfortable and he wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He didn't turn red in the face like Zoro did, which made Zoro unsure of Luffy's feelings. He wished Luffy would give him some sort of clue.

Luffy sat in the sunroom with Zoro, talking and eating sweets Zoro took from the kitchen. It wasn't the best weather outside. It was windy and rainy, and no one was working out on the lawn at the moment, which made it safe for both Zoro and Luffy to hang out with each other. Zoro noticed Luffy shoved some (a lot) of candy in his pocket for his friends to eat. Zoro had never really spoken to any of the slaves besides Luffy, so he wondered what they all thought of his and Luffy's friendship. Luffy had completely shut down on that topic. He was never really comfortable talking about his family with Zoro.

They didn't like him much, so he wouldn't give away facts and secrets about them. So Zoro never asked again. But Zoro was fine speaking to Luffy about his own family. He told him that all of his family was the same as his parents. Snobbish and shallow, treating others like they were below them.

Zoro was secretly jealous of Luffy's position. Zoro sometimes would rather be a slave and have a family instead of being rich and having no one. But he never said that to Luffy because he might find it offensive. Or he wouldn't. Zoro wasn't sure. Luffy was unpredictable. Most of times he liked it, but he could never know what Luffy was going to do or what he thought about Zoro. Zoro was absolutely sure Luffy was a genuine friend. He no longer cowered in anyway around Zoro. He was almost always completely happy talking with him.

"I have to go do my run. It's almost lunch time, so you should go to your room," Luffy said with a smile, stuffing a few more candies into his pocket. He no longer treated Zoro as if he were far above him. And Zoro had never treated Luffy like he was below him. When they were alone, they were equals, no matter how they acted in front of the other masters.

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," Zoro said after waiting a few moments before following Luffy out of the room.

Luffy did a few stretches before he ran down the long halls and to the second story to Master's den to get his dinner order. Luffy reached the room and kneeled, knocking gently on the door frame. Master did not turn around.

"Anything to deliver or receive, Master?" Luffy asked in his emotionless tone whenever he spoke to the masters, now besides Zoro.

"No." Then he gave his order without even giving Luffy time to ask for it. Luffy stood and bowed one more time before he froze. He heard the thump of one of the candies in his pocket fall out onto the wooden floor. He dared not move to pick it up. Instead, he swiftly and silently kicked the candy out of view. Master still did not turn around, though he heard the sound. "Did something just fall?" he asked shortly, sounding accusatory as well.

"My pen fell. I apologize for the disturbance," Luffy said and ran from the room as fast as he could. That was a really close one. He stopped at the staircase and took the multiple candies in his pockets and stuffed them into the toes of his shoes he had hooked around his waist like always.

He knocked on Zoro's door, calmed down enough to stop shaking and his voice not waver. Zoro opened the door and smiled, Luffy not returning it. He had heard the suspicious tone in Master's voice.

"Anything to deliver or receive?" Luffy asked, same as always. Zoro shook his head and gave Luffy his order of food and drink, watching Luffy write his awful hand writing. Zoro never understood how Luffy himself could read it. Luffy bowed and ran to the next stop and then to the kitchen to wait for the dishes to be ready and eat his own dinner.

He had a feeling Zoro chose this dish because he knew the scraps of this dish were Luffy's favorite. His gave a small smile at the thought. He wished he could do something like that for his best friend.

Luffy walked up to the counter in front of the cooks. "I got you guys some candy," he whispered. The others smiled and asked how, just as quietly. "I got them from Young Master," Luffy replied with a grin.

"He really likes you, huh?" one of the girls said as she fixed Zoro's food.

"He's a really nice friend," Luffy said happily. The girl smirked.

She looked back to the food and put the decoration on the dish with a sauce that went with it. "Friend, huh?" Luffy nodded, not sensing the tone of amusement and disbelief. Another girl smirked behind the first. The three boys made no indication they knew why the girls were acting like this.

Luffy was given the leftovers and scarfed it down, and then went off to fetch the family. When they entered, like usual, Luffy and the cooks bowed respectfully. Luffy was about to sit at the slave's table when Master said, "Messenger, come here now." immediately Luffy was on edge, but he walked over to the man, who hadn't sat down yet. He looked at Luffy coldly. Luffy bowed in front of him, only a few feet away. He was caught off guard when he was viciously slapped across the face, a loud "smack!" reverberated in the room. Luffy started to breathe quickly, but didn't look back up at the Master and just kept his hand to his stinging cheek.

"Do you often steal food from the kitchen?" Master questioned coldly. Luffy finally looked up to see the candy he had dropped in between the man's fingers. Luffy shook his head. "Then why did you have a piece of candy?" Luffy couldn't help but look to Zoro, who looked furious.

"I-," Luffy began, trying to find an excuse that wouldn't get Zoro in trouble, but Zoro thought otherwise.

"I gave it to him," Zoro said harshly. He seethed at Luffy's red eyes and the tremors wracking his body. "Do not hit him again," Zoro demanded. His father looked at him angrily.

"Why would you give food to a slave?!" he shouted furiously. Luffy inched away from the angry father. The kids, who had watched angrily, saw Luffy's lower lip trembling and then moved to be in front of him, guarding him from Master. Luffy's worst fear had come to pass, and they'd do anything to keep it from getting worse.

"Because I wanted to! I am a master, too, and I can do as I like with one of _my_ slaves as well." All of the slaves were staring at Zoro as he defended Luffy. Luffy was no longer keeping track of what was going on in the room as he was in shock. He had kept the tears in, but he wanted to flee the room more than he ever had before. Zoro continued to argue with his father about Luffy for many more minutes. The whole time, the Mistress watched in shock. Usually Zoro didn't care about most things. But he was getting very angry now as Master threatened firing Luffy from his job and making him work outside.

"You will not touch him again! You will not fire him either!" Zoro shouted. "If you do either, I will make sure you regret it," he said darkly. Master narrowed his eyes, believing Zoro would do something 100%.

"I will punish him if he deserves it. Like I always have! You have ruined his good track record. Whatever becomes of him will be your fault," Master said darkly. But Zoro wasn't done and threw a fork at his dad, his aim to next to his dad's ear. It flew there and stabbed through the plaster in the wall behind the man. He looked shocked at his son's violence. But he knew, from experience, when Zoro became violent, it got worse as time went on. Master had thought Zoro had taken care of his anger issues. He caved, knowing if he did not stop arguing with Zoro, things would get bad.

Someone would get hurt and he knew it wouldn't be the slaves. Master turned to Luffy, who was cowering behind the children, and said, "Your new schedule includes nights as well. You will sleep four nights a week. That is your current punishment." Luffy nodded shakily, being towed to the slave's table by the kids. Zoro was still seething, and gave his father the most murderous expression he could muster, trying to scare the man. Master tried his best to just ignore him.

Zoro had no appetite but the slaves made his food carefully, so he ate it. He glanced at Luffy's shaking form every once in a while. As soon as Master said, "Clean our dishes," Luffy bolted from the room and down the stairs to the cellar door. He ignored Zoro's calls as crawled through the tunnel to the slave quarters. He was sobbing before he hit the bed. There were a few others who were changing out of their work clothes into the worn sleep clothes.

"Luffy?! What happened?!" one of the slaves who took care of the downstairs cleaning ran to him. Luffy turned onto his back and showed the bright red mark on his cheek. The slap had been very hard, so it still stung. "You got hit…" she said sadly and hugged him. He continued to cry and shake.

"What happened?" the doctor asked, who had run over at the woman's shout. Luffy sat up and untied the shoes from his waist and dumped the contents on the bed. It was a handful of sweets.

"Zoro… gave them to me. I dropped one and Master saw it and thought I'd stolen them. Then he hit me… and Zoro got mad and yelled at him. He threw a fork at him and told Master to leave me alone. Now I have to do night shifts three times a week. I… was so scared! And it hurt and I couldn't breathe and so I ran here," Luffy explained, and then started crying again. "I don't wanna be here anymore!" and then he curled up in a ball on the bed. "And now Zoro's gonna be in trouble, too…"

The two slaves looked at each other sadly. When others came in when it was time to go to bed for most of the slaves, they saw Luffy looking how he'd never looked before: broken and crying. They hurried over to him and asked what was wrong. They were his family, so Luffy really didn't care about showing weakness in front of them. And most of them had been punished at least once.

"Luffy was finally hit," the doctor said sadly. Everyone frowned and felt for him. They offered silent support by just sitting with him.

"I… don't know if I can keep doing my messangering if I'm scared of him every time I see Master…"

"Make it so he doesn't get to you. Just because he hit you, doesn't mean he broke you. Right? Do you want to give him the satisfaction? We don't, which is why we carry on our work as normally as possible even after being punished," someone explained. "Do you think he'd want to punish us if we don't care?"

"Yes, he wants us to react. Slaves aren't just for work, we're for stress relief of the owner as well. Since we can't fight back, we try our best to not respond. It's the same as punching a punching bag if we don't react. Do not let him get to you." Everyone else was nodding, but Luffy had already reacted quite a bit.

"And Luffy, you're possibly the most important slave to them. You alert them of things that are very convenient. If you suddenly stop working well, what will they do? If they make it worse, you might start to 'accidentally slack off a bit'," the oldest woman said with a mischievous smile. "Think like cause and effect. He hits you, you stop working as well. He doesn't hit you, you work the same again. You have leverage here that we don't have. We are all replaceable, but you're the best one to have this job, right?" Luffy had stopped crying as he listened.

"And apparently you have Young Master backing you up, right?" Luffy nodded.

"Do not let him have satisfaction." Luffy nodded more firmly, wiping his arm across his face to get rid of the tears. Then there was loud thundering as all of the children came running in, looking furious.

"Luffy! Are you okay?" one of the girls asked, the same one who smirked at Luffy saying Zoro was a friend. Luffy nodded.

"I'm better now. What happened after I left?" Luffy asked, his voice no longer shaking. She smiled at him.

"Young Master was _furious_. After you ran out, he called your name, but didn't follow you. His anger came back once you were out of sight and he looked like he was about to kill Master. Oh it was entertaining when he quickly left after Young Master went crazy. He threw things all over the hall, missing hitting Master with a plate. We didn't even care we were smiling as it happened. And guess what! He cleaned up the mess himself."

"I guess he isn't so bad after all," said a boy, who laughed at the memory of Master fleeing. "Master deserved everything he got." Luffy smiled warmly that Zoro was so angry that Luffy had been upset.

"I'm going to go see him. I'm okay now, don't worry. I'll stay away from where Master usually is at this hour," Luffy said and left for the celler closest to the stairs.

"He's probably still cleaning up the mess he made, so you you should try the dining hall first."

"Thanks," Luffy replied and ran as fast as he could. He could hear everyone laughing as the children elaborated about Master's reaction and face. Luffy smiled at this.

When he entered the dining hall, he saw the incredible mess Zoro had created. Broken silverware everywhere, and even one of the tables was on its side.

"Wow, you made a mess," Luffy commented. Zoro looked up as he swept up glass. He dropped the broom and hurried over.

"Are you okay?" he asked, touching Luffy's cheek. The red mark had faded after a bit of being in the slave's quarters. Zoro looked very concerned.

"I'm okay. Are you? Did you get in trouble?" Luffy asked, smiling at Zoro's immensely relieved expression to Luffy's words.

"I did make a huge mess and attacked my father. From a distance. But he can't really do anything about it. I'm stronger than he is, no matter if he attacks people more than me. He has no leverage over me. I'm sorry about the candies," he said sadly.

"I stuffed the rest in my shoes, so my family still got some. Thanks for standing up for me. My biggest fear was being punished, since I never have been before. But everyone told me how to deal with the fear of Master." Luffy smiled warmly about thinking of his family helping him. Zoro asked what they said. "They said I have leverage over the situation. Since I'm the only one who can do this job, if he hits me, I'll just go slower. If he wants to me to go fast like usual, he won't hit me. I don't know if it will work, but they said to not give him the satisfaction of a reaction."

"You're lucky your family is there for you so much," Zoro said wistfully.

"Well, we're all slaves, so it's only natural we're all really close. Plus I was raised by them," Luffy told him. "Why did you get so upset? Surely you've seen us punished before."

Zoro was quiet for a moment. "I'd never seen _you_ punished. That look on your face, and they way you were shaking… it was painful and infuriating to watch. I'm sorry, it was my fault." Luffy started to protest on this point. "I didn't say it was my fault fast enough." Luffy frowned.

"I don't blame you." Luffy paused to let his words sink in. He then asked, "Are you always that violent?" Luffy didn't sound afraid, just curious." Zoro shook his head. "Why did you go so far for me? Master is probably mad at you."

Zoro froze, unsure of what to say. He could tell him it was because they were friends, but that wasn't all of it. He hated seeing the person he loved terrified and hurt. He hated seeing his adoration run from the room crying, and was so fast Zoro couldn't catch up with him. This was a good moment to tell him. He was going to someday, and he'd become impatient about the subject. He just could never find the right time. This was the right time.

"I hated seeing it because I didn't want to see the person I love hurt," Zoro said, his face red. Now the ball was in Luffy's court. He worried at the pregnant pause between them.

"I think... I love you, too," Luffy said, his face not pink at all. He'd really realized he loved Zoro when he stood up for him so intensely. "But I'm a slave," Luffy said sadly. "That relationship wouldn't be good… you'll get in trouble." But Zoro didn't care about Luffy being a slave at all. He would _make_ their relationship good.

He didn't reply to Luffy's sad words and gently took Luffy's face into his hands and leaned forward to press his lips to the black haired boy in front of him. Luffy couldn't help it. He melted into Zoro's kiss. He'd never kissed anyone, so he didn't know how to. He did his best to have Zoro lead. He didn't protest when one of the hands holding Luffy's cheek went around him and pulled his waist to Zoro so their bodies were closer. Zoro's kiss stayed soft because he didn't know how Luffy would react if the kiss became more intense. But when Luffy hesitantly wrapped his arms around Zoro's neck, because it just felt right to, Zoro became a little more forceful, grateful Luffy didn't respond negatively. When Zoro's tongue entered Luffy's mouth, the slave pulled away, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry. I needed to breathe," he said breathily. Zoro grinned at him and hugged him tightly, grinning. After pining over Luffy secretly for five years, his favorite fantasy came true, and it was better than he'd imagined. "What will happen if we're found out that we love each other?" Luffy asked, the wording making Zoro grin wider. "I don't think my family would tell anyone. They might not like it, but the kids saw everything you did, so maybe you are redeemed for being a master."

"We'll make sure mother and father don't find out. We've been secretly meeting for a while just being friends," Zoro said.

"Will you get in trouble? ...Will I get in trouble?" The last part was a little quieter.

"I don't care if I get in trouble. But if you do, father won't like that much. I already told him he'd regret it if he harmed you or fired you from your job. He will believe me. This is not the first time I've been violently angry, no one was usually around when it happened. And I clean up the mess I create myself," Zoro explained calmly, not hugging Luffy anymore, but holding his hand.

They headed down the second staircase, single file that wasn't as safe or convenient but was near. It opened from a wooden door and the steps were narrow and made of wood. It used to be a way for slaves to go up and down from the first floor to the third. There was no doorway to the second floor. But they had stopped being used because they were dangerous.

The two walked to the sunroom, the place they usually went for privacy. Zoro sat down and Luffy followed. Luffy sat on the table instead, finally convinced Zoro wouldn't reprimand him in any way, even if it was for something small.

"My family said Master ran away from you. Is that true?" Luffy questioned. He wished, if it were true, that he'd seen it himself. Zoro chuckled.

"Sort of. He left the room while I was still on my… rampage. But he did look shaken and walked quickly. So your friends are right," Zoro said, and then paused before asking his own question. "Luffy, what happened after you left the dining hall?"

Said person looked down in embarrassment. "I went back to the slave's quarters and fell apart. Then everyone cheered me up. And the kids came in laughing about what happened after I left. They told me I should go see you, so I did."

"Is it wrong to be jealous of your position? That it would be privileged? That I, a rich master, would rather be a poor slave?" Zoro looked awkward as he finished his string of questions.

"No. I know you're lonely, and it's true that I have a family who loves me. So I don't think that's privileged or offending," Luffy assured him. "Do you have any other family? Maybe they're not near. People you could live with happily?" Luffy asked, holding Zoro's hand on the table. "You don't like it here, correct?"

"I have grandparents a couple towns over. They're on mother's side, so they aren't royalty or anything. They aren't rich but are nice people. I don't see them much since father doesn't like their 'lowly status'," Zoro said bitterly. "This castle feels like a jail sometimes. Because I have nowhere to go, I'm stuck here…"

"Would you want to live with them?" Luffy questioned. They had spoken about how Zoro didn't like it here, but they'd never gotten so deep into the subject.

"It would be nicer living with people who care. I'd rather live somewhere small and cozy. I don't like such a huge place. It was fun as a kid because I could run around. And I wanted to do what you did," Zoro told him. Luffy asked what he meant. "I know you used to play hide and seek around the castle with the kids at breaks," Zoro said with an amused smile. "I really wanted to play with you. Even though I was 14 at the time. It still looked fun. That's a big reason of why I like you. You're fun."

Luffy grinned. "Do you want to play now?"

"What? Now?" Luffy nodded. "Uh… sure," Zoro said, unsure.

"Have you never played before?" Luffy asked in disbelief. Had Zoro never even played simple games with others? Zoro turned slightly pink in the face.

"...No, I've never played before... Someone hides while the other looks for them?" Luffy nodded. Those instructions were a bit self-explanatory from the title of the game. "Are there other rules or anything?"

"Well, there could be a time limit, or distance limit. Suh as only using the first floor. Can I be the one that hides?" Luffy asked excitedly. He hadn't played the game in a while. Once the kids were old enough to start working every day, they were unable to play secretly on the deserted floors.

"Okay. Only the third floor. And the time limit is five minutes and then, if I don't find you, you have to meet at the staircase," Zoro instructed happily.

"You've obviously never played before. You'll need more than five minutes," Luffy told him, smiling in amusement. But he was also a bit sad. Zoro had to wait until he was 18 to play hide-and-go-seek. Luffy would make it enjoyable.

"Alright, ten minutes then. I have a watch, though. How will you know ten minutes are up?"

"Don't worry, my internal clock is sharp. I have to know when one hour is up, so ten minutes is nothing. We have a little less than an hour before I have to work the night shift and ask for any last minute requests from Master and Mistress. But we can play at night too, in the dark of course. That might be harder for you though," Luffy explained. He knew the castle like the back of his hand. As a child, when he wasn't too fast at running but got the job done respectfully, he'd explore fearlessly during his breaks. As he aged, he lost some of that rebellious nature. He stole food, but that was it nowadays.

"You know my castle better than I do?" Zoro asked, an eyebrow raised. Luffy grinned and nodded.

"Alright. But I'll find you," Zoro swore. Luffy just smiled, a hiding place already in his mind. The two quietly walked up the main staircase to the third floor.

"Okay, close your eyes and count to two minutes. Ready?" Luffy asked as they stood at the top of the stairs. Zoro was grinning as he closed his eyes. "One, two, three!" Luffy counted and ran away. Zoro began to count.

Luffy ran to the vent in the wall near the inner corner of the main hall and pulled out the bars very quietly and crawled in, putting the bar back on behind him. He waited with a smile. He'd never find Luffy there.

Zoro wandered around quickly, searching every empty room made for visitors that never came, and the long hall the stretched around the building. Luffy was nowhere to be found. Five minutes were up and Zoro was now running around the third floor barefoot. Finally his expensive watch showed it had been eleven minutes since the start. He frowned and walked back to the staircase so see Luffy smirking at him next to the bannister. Zoro smiled and ran to him. He loved when Luffy had diverse expressions because he could compare them to the first night Zoro had spoken to him. Every new smile Luffy gave him he saw as a treasure.

"Where were you?" Zoro asked once he reached Luffy.

"A vent," Luffy replied simply.

"But I looked in those," Zoro said, confused. Luffy grinned.

"You obviously didn't look too far into them," and then he gave a short laugh. "Your turn," Luffy instructed.

For the remaining time before Luffy's last official stop, Zoro spectacularly failed at their game. It was finally time for their game to end and Luffy to go make his last round. He was nervous that he was going to act afraid of Master on accident. Zoro told him he'd wait in his room for Luffy.

* * *

 **Review!**


	4. The Catalyst

**The drama starts in this chapter. Enjoy~**

Luffy arrived at Master's den on time, but he wasn't there. Usually he was. Maybe he was in his room. So he ran to the couple's room and knocked on the door.

"What is it?" Mistress asked. Luffy took this as his cue to open the door and saw both she and Master in bed.

"A apologize for interrupting. Master was not in his den, so I checked here first," he said very professionally. "Is there anything you'd like me to receive or deliver before you rest?"

"Yes, I'd like a glass of wine. The one I have sometimes at night," Mistress said. Master just curtly excused Luffy from the room. Luffy knew exactly which wine was needed as Mistress was very specific on what types of wine she wants when. So he went down the wine cellar, which had a large quantity of alcohol that wasn't wine. He slid out the old wine but wasn't sure whether to get one glass or two so Master could have one… better safe than sorry, Luffy decided, and took two glasses.

Mistress accepted the wine as graciously as she could without sounding even a bit respectful, though she liked Luffy the most out of all the slaves. She didn't _like_ him, he was just her least least favorite. Luffy poured the glass for her, though this wasn't his job, and one for Master, without looking either in the eye, as he was supposed to not. He asked if he should take the wine back and left uneventfully to return the wine to where it came from.

Luffy then stayed the night until Zoro went to be with him in his room. Luffy taught him how to play basic games and card games since he missed out on so much as a child. It was one of the best nights either had had.

Weeks went by and almost everything stayed relatively the same. He succeeded in maintaining the neutral behavior and tone when he spoke to Master. Master didn't hit him again. Because he was afraid of Zoro or didn't want Luffy to falter in his work, he didn't know. He was just glad the awful incident didn't happen again.

The only thing that had changed was his night shifts and breaks. They were now spent with Zoro in some part of the castle, away from prying eyes. They did all the same things they did as friends, but now there were physical acts as well. Zoro was glad and surprised that Luffy would return his kiss just as forcefully as Zoro did. Every time they spent the day and night together, they became more physical with each other. They just loved being together intimately, though it never went too far.

 _Luffy was pushed onto the bed below Zoro and had his neck attacked by Zoro's lips and tongue. Luffy put his hands into Zoro's short green hair, pulling at the strands, though they were much harder to grip compared to Luffy's longer hair._

 _After a while of Zoro kissing Luffy's neck and jaw, glad to hear Luffy's pleasant panting, he pulled away and_ finally _saw Luffy with a blush across his cheeks and nose._

" _Finally you blush. I've been the only one doing it for five years," Zoro said, enjoying Luffy's flushed face. It made him even sexier. Most people would call Luffy cute, but to Zoro, Luffy was sexy and secretly watched him in certain places while he ran down the hall away from Zoro's room._

 _Luffy grinned. "Well no one has ever been very physical with me, so I had no reason to. And I didn't even notice you blushed when you saw me until you told me you loved me," Luffy said warmly as he spoke the last few words. He pulled Zoro's head down and kissed him passionately. Zoro happily returned the kiss with an equal amount of vigor._

 _As Luffy kissed his lover, Zoro had his hands roaming down the other's chest before he began to unbutton the uniform shirt. Luffy didn't stop him as he pushed the garment dow Luffy's arms, exposing Luffy's toned, somewhat skinny, and flat stomach and chest. Luffy couldn't see Zoro's face very well at the moment and broke the kiss to say, "I bet you're blushing like mad right now," Luffy joked, out of breath from the kiss and Zoro's hands roaming his torso._

" _So are you," Zoro whispered into Luffy's ear and then moved his mouth down from Luffy's jaw to his neck to his chest and stomach, giving wet kisses and hickeys across his skin. Luffy was having trouble getting Zoro's shirt off since he was under the teen and his hands were shaking a bit._

 _Finally, he shoved Zoro off and flipped them so Luffy was now on top, clumsily pulling Zoro's simple shirt off and over his head. Now it was Luffy's turn to admire Zoro's chest. While Luffy's was flat and toned, Zoro's was buff and even more toned than Luffy. Luffy was a bit embarrassed to kiss along Zoro's chest but did it anyways, not leaving hickeys like Zoro had._

 _While Luffy did this, Zoro twined his hands through his messy black hair and played with the strands Zoro's fingers were buried in. He pulled Luffy's face back up and the two kissed a while more before Luffy's timer in his head told him it was time to get things ready for lunch. Both were a bit irritated their interactions had to end._

 _Zoro told Luffy he wanted cereal again and the two put their tops back on and Luffy left to Master's room with a smile, not feeling Zoro's eye staring at his butt as he sprinted down the hall._

Moments like this were often and not very far apart. But shirtless was as far as they went.

When they were around others (Master and Mistress) they were acquaintances. The other slaves knew what was going on, and the child cooks would smirk at Luffy when he entered the dining hall with a smile that wasn't present before. Most of the others didn't care and supported Luffy finally having a romantic relationship, even if it was with a master. Luffy had told them briefly how Zoro viewed his life. That he didn't like how the slaves were treated or being here in general, which got the more skeptical slaves more open minded about it.

Luffy had gotten used to not sleeping for three days throughout the week and functioned normally anyways.

Whether Master knew about his son's and a slave's relationship or not, neither knew. He acted cold towards both, which wasn't unusual. Maybe Zoro's threat _had_ scared him. Luffy didn't know that Zoro was still making passing verbal threats to his dad every time he saw him. To say their already bad relationship had tanked even further was an understatement.

Luffy gushed a lot about how awesome Zoro was to the slave's constantly. But they said nothing because Luffy hadn't been this happy in a while. He was a lot funner when he was ecstatic as well, so they benefited by his good mood and confidence in stealing what he could from the kitchen. Though Master hadn't been mean towards Luffy, he still stayed as respectful and neutral as he could around the man. But he had grown tired of bowing to the ground for Master.

A bad thing had happened from Master leaving Luffy alone. He took out his irritation at the other slaves. Whether he yelled and threatened the cleaners or cooks for "something they did wrong" or he hit them… well that was random. No one could anticipate his reactions to things because they were very sporadic.

But no one told Luffy because he'd feel like it was his fault, though that couldn't be proven.

One day, Master's temper had ruined everything. _Everything_ for _everyone._

Master looked at his dish, everything perfect and normal. But he felt like taking out frustration from even looking at Zoro on one of the cooks.

"Who cooked my food?" he asked coldly, the already quiet room falling dead silent. A terrified boy raised his hand. "Come here," Master commanded. The other cook slaves and Luffy watched apprehensively as the boy reached the dining table and bowed.

"Look at this," he demanded. The boy looked, but saw nothing wrong. The cook just looked at the dish in confusion. Everyone made Master's dish extremely carefully to make sure nothing was wrong.

"Is there a problem, Master?" he asked hesitantly. He didn't know how he was supposed to respond to this type of thing because it hadnt happened in a while and it hadnt been him that time.

"Do not act like you can't see it," he said. But still, the kid couldn't see the problem.

"I… I cannot see what is wrong," he said. Master smacked him in the face and knocked the child off balance. Then he fell and slammed his temple into the table close behind the table the masters were sitting at. The boy did not get up, and Master continued to talk as if nothing had happened.

"Don't you talk-" he began but was cut off.

"Joshua!" the kids and Luffy shouted and ran to the prone boy. They all either screamed of gasped at Joshua's blank open eyes. He was dead. Because of a made up problem, Master had hit him and Joshua hit hit head, killing him.

The masters looked at the scene, Zoro in horror and Mistress in surprise. Master, however, couldn't care less as he said a simple, "Oops."

What Zoro saw next startled him. He'd only seen these cooks reserved and respectful, and sometimes happy as they socialized with each other quietly. Now, they looked like rabid animals. Zoro had never seen anyone look so livid, even his father. Now they looked murderous, through their tears, as each one was in tears. Luffy was the first to look back to the dead child and closed his eyes gently.

"Do not look at me like that!" Master yelled at them. They each looked away in disgust with the monster and back to poor Joshua.

"Let us bury him," Luffy said quietly. Master felt no remorse. He had just killed a child and he acted like he had swatted a fly for good reason. All the slaves in the room wanted to gut him with the silverware in his hand. They wanted to kill him like he'd killed Joshua. But Master deserved it. Joshua did not. It was a stupid reason to make a problem out of it.

Then he angered them even more with, "Do what you like. But in the yard with the dead pets." He thought so little of his victim that he was going to force him to be buried next to dead cats. The slaves got up, their sorrow was now fury. The sorrow would come, but now all they could feel was rage. Luffy gently pulled the limp body into his arms and carried him with the others.

"Collect the others," Luffy said to the children, who were just starting to fall into immediate grieving and cried as they ran in different directions to get the other slaves working about.

Luffy walked to the pet cemetery, which would now have a person, and sat down with Joshua's body in his lap. Luffy's clothes were getting dirty but he could care less. He was glad Zoro didn't follow. He was, no doubt, making hell for Master. Zoro wasn't a part of this. He didn't know Joshua and he wasn't a slave, so it would be wrong for him to put himself in their business.

The others ran over, the bigger men carrying shovels and a tarp. Most of Joshua's family were crying when they already got there. But now that they saw him, everyone erupted into tears. Tears of sorrow and tears of fury.

Luffy gave Joshua's body to the children. He was their best friend. They deserved to hold him while he was still here.

The grave was dug slowly. The strong men who were shoveling the dry dirt to make Joshua's resting place had tears down their eyes. Joshua was the youngest of all of them. He was six. At age six, he was put to work and killed by his boss. He didn't get to learn how to read or write at all, like the rest of the youngest generation. Luffy was the last one to have learned anything as a child.

They wrapped him gently in the tarp they could use and set his down carefully, talking about him as the dirt was put back over his body.

Joshua's closest friend went looking for a grave marker and found a plain rock. "Does anyone have something to write on it?" she asked sadly. Luffy unclipped his pen and handed it to her. She thanked him and neatly wrote a simple: _Joshua_. No one had last names here and there wasn't enough room to write anything else on the stone.

They all stood or sat next to the freshly dug grave and remembered him. His life was too short, and spent as a slave, too.

"I don't want to be here anymore…" one of the children said.

"All he said was 'oops' after he murdered Joshua. I hate him. Master is evil…" a girl agreed with him. No one said anything else. They were all feeling the hate and sorrow and the desire to leave.

"We… should mutiny," the doctor said, surprising everyone that he was the one who had said it. "I know we're all thinking it. How can we not? He killed our family and felt nothing."

"Why do we even put up with him anyways?! There's more of us than him and even Young Master doesn't support him!"

"When I say mutiny, I don't mean murdering him. I mean ruining his life. He takes pride in this castle…"

"We'll burn it down," Luffy said simply. "That's not killing him and would ruin his life." Everyone looked at him with varying expressions. Shock, pity, support, sadness, and anger. But even with the differing expressions, they all had the look of resolve on their faces.

"What about Young Master?" a girl asked. Luffy pursed his lips.

"Zoro doesn't like it here. He hates this castle and doesn't want to live with his father and mother," Luffy explained and then looked up at the rapidly darkening sky. "We'd be freeing him from his cage."

Everyone thought about it. If Luffy was saying that, then it was true. "You'd be leaving him, Luffy. If we mutiny, we won't be returning. We'll be criminals."

"Joshua was my family. I won't ignore his murder," Luffy said firmly. "Zoro will find someone else…" But everyone could see the sadness in his eyes and the way lis lower lip was trembling. He took a deep breath to compose himself. "Besides, we won't be criminals. We have no last names and no pictures have been taken of us. As long as we change clothes and get far away from here, we won't be caught. We don't exist as long as we work here."

"We have quite a bit of planning to do," the oldest slave said. She had been working at this castle for forty years, since she was a teenager. "We'll talk about it tonight."

"I'll take tonight off. I'll say I'm grieving… which is what we'll be doing. I don't care if he hits me anymore. I know I'll ruin his life. That's enough to make me not care about his violence," Luffy said with conviction. "But everyone should be careful. Try and avoid him as best as you can. He killed Joshua by accident. Anyone could fall and hit their head."

"I think we should all call it a night. I know if I hear him talk little of Joshua's murder, I won't be able to hold myself back. But I don't want to be a murderer. You all feel the same, right?" Everyone nodded.

"We should go back," doctor said.

"We'll visit you before we leave, Joshua," his best friend said to his grave. No one was crying anymore. Their resolve and conviction had hardened. They'd be doing it as much for Joshua as for themselves.

Everyone gave the small grave one more glace and walked back to the castle.

When they entered the back entrance hall, they immediately went to the first floor cellar door. Everyone crawled through the tunnel and to their living area.

No one changed out of their uniforms. Everyone just sat on the bunk beds. Luffy spoke first.

"No matter how we plan this, I will be the key. I know the castle like the back of my hand and can go around at night without it being suspicious." The others nodded.

"Can you do it, though? You've never been a very good liar," a woman said gently.

"I won't be lying. I'll be pretending," Luffy replied. "I'll enjoy my time with Zoro here _and_ plan. Anyone have any ideas?"

Zoro watched as Luffy carried the young kid's body outside and to the patch of trees in the corner of the property, crying with the rest of them.

"How could you do that?!" Zoro screamed at his father. "You killed him and said 'oops'!"

"It was an accident. I have nothing to apologize for; he's the one who didn't cook the food well," Master said heartlessly.

Zoro walked up to him and slammed his face down onto his plate and stormed off. He wanted to see Luffy, but he knew he had no place in the slave's grieving. He wasn't their family. He'd help Luffy when he needed it from someone other than family. Zoro stormed off into his room angrily and slammed his door behind him.

Everyone had trouble falling asleep that night, except Master of course. Even Mistress was not happy with what her husband had done. It was heartless and cruel, but she wouldn't say anything. Zoro had done it for her. She had left the table as her husband pulled his head out of his perfectly cooked food.

 **And so it begins... Review!**


	5. The Plan

**Nearing the climax. Next chapter and then an epilogue. Enjoy~**

Luffy went about the next day as normally as he could, though he was deeply depressed. He didn't want to bow his head to a murderer, but they couldn't let him onto their mutiny. It was time for Luffy to act when he needed to. He reluctantly got down on his knees the next morning and asked his usual questions, his voice hard as stone, and his face blank, not showing his hatred towards the man he now bowed before.

Luffy took his food order after being told he had no messages to send. The amount of deliveries from Master had dwindled down to nothing since Zoro's threat concerning Luffy.

Luffy brought Mistress her wine like always and went to Zoro's room to get a big hug. Luffy returned the hug tightly. "What do you want for breakfast?" he asked, his voice muffled against Zoro's chest.

"Cereal," was his answer. He didn't want to stress out the cooks since their friend was just killed because his food wasn't "perfect". Luffy nodded and pulled away, running down the hallway. Running got rid of his stress, which was why he ran another lap before he'd started his rounds.

He headed to the kitchen to see the children sitting at the table sadly.

"We don't want to cook without Josh," the now youngest boy said. Luffy put his hand on the boy's hair.

"We have to," was all Luffy whispered. "I'll help you all."

"Luffy, you can't cook at all. You'll get us in trouble," a girl said quietly. Luffy gave a small smile.

"I can cook Zoro's. It's just cereal."

"Do you even know how to pour milk out without making a mess?" she questioned. Luffy reminded her he pours Mistress's wine often.

"You have to cook. You are all part of phase one. Look for the stuff," Luffy said quietly. Then in normal volume, he said, "Let's not disappoint the masters. If 'Master' says anything about your food, apologize and say you'll make a new one. I don't want to even get close to him anymore," Luffy spat bitterly. The others nodded as they got to work. It took a little longer since they were short one person now. None of them wanted Luffy's help because he could be a clutz a lot of the time. They told him to not pour the milk yet or the cereal will be soggy when Zoro comes. So he just had the milk next to the bowl of cereal.

Zoro waited outside of the dining hall until he heard the sound of the kids to getting to work. He was right to think they were conversing quietly. Luffy had scarfed down the remains of the eggs being made in an omelet. He stood and bowed when Zoro walked in and handed his cereal and milk to him once he sat down.

"You all alright?" Zoro asked loud enough for the kids to hear. Every one of them, including Luffy, said a simple and flat "No" and went back to their business. Luffy turned and ran off to alert the other masters that their food was ready.

He arrived at their room and knocked on the door to inform them their food was ready. Master just waved his hand dismissively to Luffy and he left. He was really growing tired of the way Master treated them. Now that he could vaguely see freedom in sight, pampering and serving such an evil man was not easy, like it used to be. Joshua's murder had changed _everything_. But he couldn't show his irritation or annoyance when he was around the master.

Like usual, Luffy bowed like the others as the Master and Mistress sat and began to eat. The slaves went to their small table and wrote on Luffy's pad of paper. Their first mission was to find equipment to use in their mutiny. Everyone already know alcohol was a good flammable tool. Luffy was supposed to do inventory that night. The kids had known from an awful experience that flour was highly flammable and combustible as well. Luffy was doing inventory on that the night as well.

The next part they had planned on all of the slaves. It was grosser part of the plan, but they knew it was necessary to pull the whole thing off. They were to collect as many large bugs as they could, specifically cockroaches, since the gardeners knew where infested areas were. They already had a small sac they were to put them in. Their main plan was to get the masters out of the house with them not coming back in while Luffy burned the place to the ground and to escape. The whole thing would take a while to plan. The act of burning down the house was going to be quick, and Luffy would not stay long.

His position was the most dangerous. He hadnt told the others, but he was going to volunteer to be the one who was in the castle last, while it was already on fire. He was the quickest out of all of them, so it made sense.

The plan was to spread the bugs into the places the masters stayed in the most, besides Zoro's room on Luffy's request. He was to inform Master that they had seen the bugs throughout the castle. They were betting on being told to exterminate the place, which was the moment the three would be out of the house and wouldn't be able to see the flames until it was too late to get in through the first floor. Luffy would then go to the third floor, bypassing the second floor so the flames don't reach him too fast for him to escape. They didn't know how they would start the fire, but knew that they'd have to use help in igniting the place. That's what the alcohol was for, and maybe the flour the kids had mentioned.

Since Luffy wouldn't be able to get out through the first story, they'd find a way for him to get out from the third story. He didn't want to jump out but it was most likely what was going to happen. He wouldn't be able to climb down a ladder with the first floor burning and the flames that would crawl up the side of the castle. So he had a feeling he'd be jumping out of a window.

The slaves who werent setting up moments before the mutiny began were to break into Master's office and take all of their money and maps to the next towns over. The thing they needed to find out how to do was leave the castle grounds quickly. They couldn't climb the fence because it was quite tall and impossible to scale without sliding down the bars. Plus they needed to do it in secret somehow. They couldn't be found out. It would derail everything and it would turn messy. No one particularly wanted to kill the Master because they didn't want to be murderers. So they'd knock him out in some way. Everyone hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

The slaves had spent most of the night planning, and had made a lot of progress. But they still had much to go. That night was the start of the operation.

Zoro held Luffy in his lap on his bed and listened to Luffy talk about the child that had died. He cried through most of it, but Zoro didn't mind or think he was weak. Luffy was grieving to someone who wouldn't cry back. Zoro just let Luffy talk as he rubbed his back gently.

Luffy had eventually fallen asleep, and Zoro hated that he had to wake him up for his second round. He was sick of Luffy having to leave, and then start over when he got back. He had to shut down emotionally when he dealt with the master and mistress. Then he came back blank and didn't talk for a while. Just sat with his lover in comforting silence. Luffy just wanted silence sometimes, as did the others in his family.

No one chatted that night. Everyone were talking to Luffy as he outlined how the night would progress. He was going to spend the night with Zoro until he went to bed and then Luffy would get to work quietly. He had to be quieter and more sneaky as he ran around the castle. He couldn't leave any lights on like when he got caught in the kitchen making coffee. It was going to be hard climbing down into the wine cellar to count the alcohol and what types they'd use. The door creaked loudly every time he entered, and he couldn't have the noise echo through the castle, so he had been given some grease to put on the hinges. That had to work or he'd most likely be caught. Though all the bedrooms were on the second floor, the wine cellar was on the first. He cursed how much the halls echoed at night. He hoped it wouldn't be a problem.

He and Zoro spent much of the night not in Zoro's room. They had walked outside and onto the stone patio with fancy chairs to look at the stars and talk. Zoro didn't notice Luffy was looking along the black and tall fence. He was searching for a way for them to escape. The slaves had agreed the best route to take was into the woods behind the fence. They knew it was large and they could lose a chaser in there easily, if their plan fails, that they leave before they're found out. The problem was where. Where would they escape?

The two ended up sitting on one of the benches with short Luffy sitting on Zoro's lap. Luffy would treasure these simple moments. But he knew he would be leaving. He'd never tell Zoro, but his family meant more to Luffy than he did. He was raised by those people, and helped raise the younger ones. They were all abused together and had grown stronger bonds by this reason. They had to stick together or they'd go insane at this place.

It was a little after midnight that Zoro went to bed. Luffy said goodnight and waited outside the door until he heard Zoro get into his bed. Then Luffy began his task.

He kept note of everything on his small notebook he was hiding in his shorts against his hip. He counted how many bags of flour there were, and found there was eight large bags. Luffy knew he had to snatch some before they would be used, but where would he hide his things? There were no rooms that for sure no one would enter and closets that couldn't be opened. He also needed it to be somewhere convenient for the plan.

The dangerous staircase. That would work. No one used them and it was at the far end of the castle, away from the main areas. He and Zoro had agreed they weren't to use those stairs, even if they were convenient for not having to go into the heart of the place for the official stairs.

So he grabbed three of the large sacs and slowly carried each one to the abandoned stairs. After that task was done, he crept down to the wine cellar and used the grease he had in his shoe that was hanging from his waist on the hinges. Thankfully, that worked and Luffy got to the alcohol without making any noise.

There was a plethora of booze in the room, only half of it wine. He couldn't read well, but he copied the letters on the labels of all of the glass bottles. He made simple tally marks for each type and wrote down which ones he opened smelled the strongest. Vodka was the one that smelled the strongest, so he put a star next to the word, and then attended the other types.

Both tasks took his three hours combined. A lot of it was just lugging the heavy flour sacs down the stairs and through the long hall.

Master helped the slaves ruin him. If Luffy hadn't been forced to work even at night, this whole plan would probably have never worked. But now, Luffy was the key. Everyone knew that Master trusted him the most, if Master trusted any of them that is. But Luffy had been diligent and completely and willingly compliant with Master for a very long time. The thing that tried to break their "trust" was the stupid candy falling out of his pocket, but he couldn't say that was a very bad thing. After all, his "punishment" was _because_ of that incident.

He didn't particularly like going and doing what he was behind Zoro's back. Luffy truly had no idea what Zoro's reaction would be to hearing about their planned mutiny. It _was_ his house they were going to burn down, but he also said he hated it here. Maybe - hopefully - the whole thing would be good to Zoro. He'd be free from any obligation to his father. All of them would have no place to go, and he thought that Zoro would go live with his grandparents if he was no longer tied to this place. Luffy strongly hoped for that, and that, after it was all over, Zoro wouldn't hate him.

He knew what he was going to do with Zoro's stuff once the masters leave the house (according to the plan). He didn't want Zoro to have nothing left. So Luffy decided he'd haul all of Zoro's belongings to an area far from the house. Of course he'd have to cover it with some kind of blanket due to the ash that was going to fall.

However, they'd leave something for Master that would leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

With nothing to do the rest of the night, Luffy silently walked outside and circled the house, trying to make some sort of route to use once the fire starts, however it starts.

Luffy knew where the lighter was, so that was no problem. He did usually light the halls that the masters would walk through in the morning. Luffy had also decided how he'd deal with the smoke inhalation that he was sure to experience. He'd keep a wet rag in front of his mouth, but he could do nothing for the smoke that would burn his eyes. He'd just have to hurry from the first floor to the third, a race against the flames he'd light.

He was scared. There, of course, was a chance the plan, when completely formed, would fail, and he'd be trapped in the castle, surrounded by fire. And he'd die. But, if he got trapped, he'd carry out his tasks of making the whole place burn the ashes, even if he died inside. He'd be dying to free his family and to avenge Joshua. They werent happy with leaving his grave somewhere they'd never be again, but they hoped Joshua would watch their plan succeed, for if it didn't, it would be an insult to his memory. That they couldn't even avenge him properly.

Though Luffy circled the castle, he couldn't find a good place to exit. It heavily depended where their escape was. He'd want to get as close to it as he could. He didn't want to have to run a long distance because there was a bigger chance of failure if he didn't make it in time before someone reached him. He didn't want Zoro to be the one to come after him, because it was going to be hard enough leaving as it is. He didn't want to see the hurt on his face, and the pleading he'd do for Luffy to stay, that he could protect him. But Luffy had to be strong enough to turn away from him and leave him forever. It was just how it was going to be, and he was preparing himself for that already.

None of the slaves knew how long it would be until they finally do their deed. They hoped it wouldn't be long, because every day, they knew they'd hate Master more and more. Throughout their lives living here, they had not considered mutiny. They werent brave enough and had no real reason to. But after what Master had done... Well, he'd dug his own grave. He was going to lose everything because of something _he_ did, accident or not.

If he had shown remorse or regret after their family had died, they might not mutiny like this. They might have thought it was an unintentional tragedy. But… "oops" didn't cover it. And even an apology from him would not be accepted. The slaves were already on the track of leaving. And they knew, if Master did express regret, it wouldn't be sincere. He showed what he really thought at that moment, and nothing could ever make up for that one word: _Oops._

When Luffy walked back into the castle, he had his shoes on to keep his dirty feet from touching the carpet until he went and washed his shoes out.

He walked to the bathroom near his now storage closet, he knew that anyone could look across from the bathroom and see that door, and grow interested. No, Luffy had to make sure no one could open the doors but him.

He had to make both doors impossible to open without brute and destructive force.

He stared at that door for a long time, sifting through impossible ideas on how to lock it. He could tie both handles to each other, but there was no rope long enough to stretch so far. Then he looked at the storage closet at the end of the hall and padded over there, barefoot and clean once again.

He opened the door and stared at the supplies. At what they never used. A broom, a few mops, wipes, rags, dusters, buckets, gloves. Nothing would work. But he looked at the mops once again. It's strings were pretty long…

Luffy grinned and dragged the mops with him to the trap door. He spent the next hour pulling out the strings one by one and tying them together to make a long rope. By the time he'd gone through both mops, the string was very, very long. He hoped they'd stretch as long as Luffy needed them to be.

He finally walked into the unused and enclosed stairs and tied one end to the down stairs door handle and slowly walked up the stairs backwards. It was a long walk, but by the end, he had a foot left of string. But how should he get out but keep the doors closed? The flour really was all he needed to hide that wasn't in the slaves quarters.

He tried multiple times to tighten the rope at the very moment he closed the door, but it didn't work. He stood there, concentrating hard on what to do next. It was strange to him that he was being smart about this. He was never a very intelligent person. But this… betrayal was natural to him. It was convenient, but it also bothered him.

He wrapped the rope around the handle once and closed the door, pulling the excess rope through the closed door frame and yanked hard, tightening the rope and yanking the door closed at the same time. He smiled and ripped the end of the rope off with his teeth, throwing what was left out the nearest window into the bushes.

By the end of this, the sun was rising, so he sprinted back to the second floor and got ready to pretend he wasn't working on sabotaging the people he served under all night. He patted the dust off of his clothes from being in the stairwell for so long and made sure you couldn't see the bottle of grease in his shoe until he went downstairs to change.

Everybody was awake in the slave's quarters, putting their uniforms on. They looked up and bombarded Luffy with questions. He pulled out his small notepad and read off what he'd written.

"I locked the flour sacks in the old stairwell. It goes from the first story to the third, so I'll use that to get up," he said, then paused when they looked at him in question. "I'm going to be the one left in the castle while the lower story burns. I'm not completely sure of what I should do to light the lower story on fire quickly, though." The others looked at each other, but didn't protest Luffy's decision, since he was the quickest and didn't change his mind once he was dead set on something.

"I have an idea for the flour," a girl cook said. "You should use the flour for the upstairs fire."

"You could drag it around the halls and set it on fire," the doctor said.

"You said it's explosive. Is that safe for Luffy to be near?" the eldest woman said.

"I'll be fine. I'll run fast and try to set things up before hand. Plus, it'll take a little bit for the fire to reach the third story from the first. That's the only option I can see right now. I will be fine, don't worry," Luffy explained calmly. He was afraid, but he wasn't going to let that on. He didn't know he was an open book and everyone could see his fear, yet they said nothing. Luffy would pull this off, afraid or not.

The next part of phase one was getting the bugs. That was up to the slaves that worked outside. Everyone else would do their appointed jobs while the bugs were collected. The workers from outside had no problem dealing with the big bugs. They could care less about it and knew they could get the bag filled up relatively quickly. It was their job and they were going to pull it off easily. Luffy stayed up all night doing his part.

The outside slaves would also keep and eye open for anywhere they would be able to escape through. They were going to have to think outside of the box on this one because no one could come up with a place to leave the grounds without someone being able to follow them or see it beforehand. Luffy changed quickly and climbed back up to the second floor and began his day.

The workers outside pulled up the dirt near the foundation of the castle. They knew there were bugs down there, all kinds, cockroaches included. Like they told everyone, picking up the bugs was easy. They filled the little sack and tightened the rope, keeping it in one of their pockets.

An older worker, in his thirties, pretended to do maintenance on the fence. But he was really looking for soft spots in the soil. He had an idea but didn't want to tell the others unless he was pretty sure it would work. He mostly focused on the area's unseen from the front of the castle they were going to burn to the ground. He, personally, wished he could stay and see "Master"'s face when he sees his life crumble. All of his money and cherished memories will be gone. Like Joshua's future. He felt no guilt, and didn't know Zoro much so he didn't really care. As long as it took down the one who killed his family member, he could care less about who else was impacted.

He slowly walked across the line and prodded the soil with his foot. He then turned around and looked at the castle. He couldn't see any of the front yard, and was invisible from the left side by the thick bushes. Not to mention there were no bedroom windows facing where he was at the moment.

He looked around some more, standing in front of some unruly bushes up against the fence that stretched on into the woods behind the property. The worker took out his shearing tools and cut the bush from it's root, sneaking a glance around to make sure there were no masters anywhere, and carried it over to the spot he'd been touching with his foot. When he put the now-dead bush down on the ground, he couldn't see the fence or ground at all through the shrubbery. He grinned and walked away with a smirk on his face. Looks like they know their way out now.

Through the next few days, they were getting closer to completing phase one. To get things ready. The slaves had collected a large amount of cockroaches, big and small, that filled more than one sac. It was creepy holding it, because you could feel the bugs moving around through the fabric, but they were a key to the success.

The worker who chose the spot out of eyes for their escape led them outside at night with multiple shovels. During that night, Luffy was to make sure no one went to the back halls of the castle to look out the window as their escape was being set up. Speaking of Luffy…

Everyone had noticed how stressed Luffy was when he went to bed and got up. He had trouble sleeping even when he was allowed to. He stayed with Zoro the whole day except during his rounds and after midnight. Everyone knew he was having trouble with the concept of leaving Zoro. They knew he was still dead set on the mutiny like the others, but he was having the hardest time out of all of them. Everyday, he betrayed Zoro more. He even used Zoro to help him prepare for his task of lighting the fire. He timed Luffy as he sprinted around the castle, from the stairway upstairs, down the halls, and to the specific window they would have him jump out of. It was the closest window to their disguised escape route. It only took three minutes to make through the castle. He just hoped the fire wouldn't catch up to him soon enough from the lower story before he made it out.

He had told Zoro he was just curious about how fast he could run, unable to look his love in the eyes. Thankfully, Luffy was surprisingly discreet with his pain around Zoro. He didn't want him to catch on at all costs. They spent all of the day together, while Luffy worked to destroy his home every night he was awake.

Finally, the date had been set for their mutiny. It had been only a little over a month since their decision at Joshua's grave, and having more than 15 people involved sped it up considerably.

Today was the start of the end.

Luffy walked down the hall to Master's den, the bag of cockroaches stuffed in his shoe. He'd hid many things in his shoes nowadays. He bowed as he entered, thankful Master didn't acknowledge his presence by looking at him. Luffy took a few of the wiggling cockroaches out of the bag and tossed them on the floor. The things immediately climbed up the desks. Luffy took a deep breath. He had to keep his voice steady or he would be given away.

"Master, we have found cockroaches throughout the castle. We haven't disc- Master, there is one on your desk," Luffy said, sounding disgusted. Master looked down and flew out of his chair. Luffy was prepared to take the fire.

"Get these out of here! How long have you been finding these?!" Master shouted, unhinged. Luffy had a lot of trouble not laughing mirthlessly. Looks like Master didn't like cockroaches.

"As you wish," Luffy said immediately as he crawled under the desk and grabbed one, then picking up one on the desk. "We only started seeing them this morning. I thought one just came in, but we've found them in every floor."

Luffy took his time in picking up the bugs, since he was looking at the desk closely. He found a chest that was unlocked at the moment that he assumed had the money in it. The money they were going to steal. He looked around the room, pretending to search for more bugs while he was actually looking at the walls and at the maps pinned up. They were large maps of the country and the cities nearby.

Luffy kept the helpful bugs into his other shoe.

"Dispose of those and plan a castle wide extermination," Master demanded, looking disgusted. Luffy inwardly smiled. Phase one had been completed with success! Onto phase two.

"As you wish, Master. We have taken care of vermin in our quarters last year, so we know how to rid them from here," Luffy lied calmly. It sounded plausible since they basically lived in the basement.

"Do it as soon as possible!" Luffy bowed again and left the room after asking his usual questions. Onto Mistress's room. He barely had to use any of the cockroaches. He just reused the ones he had just used. Looks like they over collected the cockroaches. He knocked on the bedroom door to see Mistress, like usual, putting her makeup on. Once again, Luffy discreetly tossed some of the bugs on the carpet. As he watched one approach the vanity table, he spoke as it climbed up the side.

Luffy didn't even need to say anything for Mistress to see it and scream. "Get it away!" she shrieked. Luffy's eyes widened as he hurried to pick it up. He walked to the window and opened it, dropping the bug outside.

"Mistress, we will take care of the vermin. They have been found throughout the castle. I and the other slaves were told to exterminate them. Don't worry, they won't be here long. Would you like your wine?" Luffy asked. Mistress nodded as she tried to fix the lipstick she'd smeared by accident. As Luffy turned to leave, he tossed another bug into the room, running away to the wine cellar and grinning as he heard the woman scream again. Luffy was actually having _fun._ Things were looking smooth _and_ he got to torment the masters in secret.

As Luffy ran out of sight, he tossed cockroaches around every corner and into every room he passed. If the house werent going to be destroyed, it would be a very big infestation that would be very difficult to treat.

Master didn't even question what the slaves were going to use, which was good because he had no answer. Even if they werent going to mutiny, they would have no way to get rid of the bugs by themselves without certain supplies that would need to be bought. But Master believed what Luffy told him. It was lucky Luffy had been a diligent worker for so long.

By the time Luffy was back at Mistress's room, he had emptied the entire bag of bugs. He'd thrown some down the stairs as well. He thanked each one of them as they were tossed away. Too bad they were all going to die. Mistress screamed at him that there were more and to "get rid of them now!" Luffy crawled under the bed and around the room to snatch the bugs up and toss them out the open window. He excused himself from the room after taking her breakfast order.

He exited the room to see Zoro standing in the hall. "What happened? Why is she screaming?" He looked very concerned.

"We've found cockroaches throughout the castle," Luffy said. "Master told us to exterminate them, but that's gonna take a while," Luffy lied smoothly, hoping Zoro wouldn't ask what they planned to do. Luffy didn't miss a beat before lying again once Zoro asked that question.

"We go through every room and inspect it to take the bugs out and kill the eggs. We've done it before in our own quarters," Luffy said, begging Zoro to just accept his words and move on. "We'll get rid of them. Master being angry isn't exactly something we like…" Luffy told him darkly, both of them remembering what Master had done based on his anger. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Cereal sounds the safest at the moment," Zoro said in good humor. If Luffy said he was going to clean up the castle, he was going to. That's what Zoro thought…

Luffy was determined like that, but for a much larger and darker task. Luffy nodded and bowed, smiling as he ran down the hall and to the dining room. He ran up to the bar in the kitchen and told the kids what they had to cook as he muttered that everything was going smoothly.

"I tossed the cockroaches everywhere," Luffy told them quietly as he washed his hands in the kitchen sink. "You should have seen Master's face. Apparently he is not a fan of bugs." Luffy laughed. The others giggled as they cooked the meals. "Tomorrow will be your last day of cooking…" Luffy sounded sad suddenly.

"Don't think about it Luffy," a girl said quietly. "You said this will help him. And we'll be free." They all knew who Luffy was thinking of.

"Yeah, maybe you'll see him again one day," someone else said as they cooked the scrambled eggs for Mistress as he cooked the sausage at the same time.

"He'll probably hate me, though. I'd rather never see him again than see him looking at me in anger and contempt," Luffy replied, sounding thoroughly depressed. He straightened up and wore a smile as Zoro came in and walked to the table. Luffy walked to him with the bowl of cereal and jar of milk.

"There aren't any bugs in the cereal. We checked," Luffy said with a laugh.

"It's weird I haven't found any bugs in my room," Zoro commented as he watched Luffy eat whatever was given to him.

"You're lucky," one of the children said. "We found them in our quarters," she lied. Zoro was surprised that she'd spoken to him. "Oh, I'm sorry! How disrespectful to speak to you directly…"

It had come to the point where everyone was lying about everything. The kids had never spoken directly to Zoro. None of them cared anymore. Zoro had been nice to them and Luffy, and since they were about to burn his home down, they were going to be as nice as possible to him. They knew Luffy was having trouble, but also knew he was doing well to deceive his love. They imagined that it must hurt. Everytime he looked at Zoro, he must think about his betrayal and if Zoro would hate him for it.

 **I like to think the plan was pretty creative. Gotta hate those cockroaches, but in experience, I know I'd want to exterminate those assholes as fast as possible. Review!**


	6. The Beginning Of The End

**This chapter is my favorite. So dramatic! Luffy and Zoro... oh. Review! Enjoy~**

Once the other masters entered, their food was put on the table like usual the the slaves bowed. "Master, may I speak?" Luffy asked politely, still bowing.

"What is it?" he asked shortly. He was still pissed about the bugs.

"I have talked to some of the others, and we'd like to do the extermination tomorrow morning. It is as soon as we can do it. Is that acceptable?" Luffy asked respectfully.

"Yes, do what you must," he said curtly, putting the napkin in his shirt like a fancy bib. "But we will not be helping and will wait outside. We are too good to be around these bugs.

"As you wish," Luffy said and walked over to the table with the kids, his back to the table the masters were sitting on. He wore a dark smirk. It was almost over. By tomorrow afternoon, they'd be far from this place. Far from the abusive master, the entitled mistress, and… Zoro.

Though Luffy looked to be in a good mood, he was terrified. They way he was going to pull off the fire was very dangerous. He could burn to death easily. He told everyone that, if the castle exploded and Luffy was still inside, they were to flee anyways. Even if they stayed, they couldn't save him if he was trapped in the burning building. The others grudgingly agreed. They were afraid for Luffy, but it was too late to change the plan. Luffy was the designated pyromaniac.

All the slaves were nervous as they slept in the slaves quarters. Luffy wasn't there that night. They knew where he was and found nothing wrong with it. He was going to be with Zoro as much as he could. The time left was passing quickly. Too quickly for Luffy's liking, but at the same time, he wanted to get it over with already.

He sat on Zoro's bed as Zoro changed into his night clothes. Luffy looked around the room he'd come to love. All the pictures of pets on the walls, the knickknacks on the dresser, the discarded dirty clothes thrown around the room and the drawings Luffy had made that he framed. These things would no longer be here by tomorrow afternoon. All of this room would not exist anymore. It made him very sad.

When Zoro came out of his bathroom, Luffy was smiling at him.

"Can I sleep with you tonight? It's not a work night tonight. I'm stressed about the whole thing tomorrow," Luffy said truthfully. Zoro turned a bit pink at the thought of sleeping with Luffy. He also had some other activities he was unwillingly thinking about that they could do during the night the was much more intimate than just cuddling while they slept.

"Of course," Zoro said. Luffy smiled at him and started taking his shirt off. To walk over to Zoro and sit on the bed.

"Shirt off," Luffy commanded. Zoro knew what Luffy was doing and gladly undressed and threw the clothes onto the ground, pouncing on Luffy with a devious grin.

"You sure?" Zoro asked, worried Luffy would change his mind. Zoro was more than ready for a certain activity, and it was obvious Luffy was as well.

"Yes. I want tonight to be special," Luffy said softly. It was the complete truth.

"Alright," Zoro whispered. "I love you."

"And I'll love you for forever," Luffy told him as Zoro lowered his body to meet Luffy's.

Luffy woke up on his stomach with Zoro snoring next him, both of them still naked under the blankets. Luffy couldn't help but have tears trail down his face as he watched Zoro sleep. He smiled in amusement with all the drool coming from Zoro's mouth. He wasn't as sexy asleep as he was last night. But Luffy loved it. He looked at the window and saw it was very light out, and the day had started. The final day, but also the starting day.

"Zoro," Luffy whispered, waking him up with a light shake. He woke up startled and looked at Luffy. "I have to go get ready for the operation." Luffy was only telling the truth the moments before he said goodbye to Zoro.

Zoro yawned and stretched. "I bet it won't be pleasant to get rid of the bugs like this." He yawned again.

"No… I'm not looking forward to it, but it's necessary." _They had to leave today._

"I wish I could help," Zoro replied somewhat sadly. Luffy told him kindly that he'd just get in the way. _Or burn to death._

"I'm going to get dressed now," Luffy said and shamelessly got out of the bed and was no longer covered. Zoro blushed at the sight of Luffy's naked butt, but stared anyway. Luffy knew he must have been staring, but didn't really care. He was numb at the moment with thinking about what he was about to do. What hurt the most was that he felt no intention of not following through with the plan. He felt no shred of regret or hesitation to burning the place down and escaping. He only regretted that he betrayed Zoro and kept this a secret for over a month. Part of him hoped he'd be reunited with Zoro some day in the future, but he never wanted to see Zoro look at him in hate or anger.

"I have to go. Don't worry, we'll get rid of them. I don't know how long it will last, but you should be fine outside. Master would make a problem if he stayed inside. He'd probably order everyone around and ruin our plan about it. I'll see you later, okay?" Luffy said, his voice miraculously not cracking with the lie he wished was the truth. He smiled at Zoro and left the room.

By the time he was down stairs, lawn chairs and a standing umbrella had been put out on the concrete party area. There was a bonfire in the middle, but no one ever used it. Well, today would be a bonfire. A massive one.

The slaves all bowed at the door as the masters exited. The three couldn't see the glee and dark smirks of revenge on all of their faces. Even Zoro couldn't see it. Once the three sat down and Zoro started to read, the front door closed forever, and one of the large slaves locked it behind them.

Immediately everyone was in action. Luffy ran to the locked stairway and kicked the old wooden door open, the wood cracking loudly. He ran to the wine cellar and got help from others getting the alcohol out. They helped Luffy station and put alcohol soaked rags inside the neck of the bottle and ran to set up where the bottle would be. Luffy had spent days measuring the halls that wrapped around the castle, marking on his hand drawn map diagram of the first floor where each bottle would be prepared.

The glass bottles were each set up in the corner of the hallways and in the doorway of every single room. Luffy then ran up to the third story and broke that door, pulling the bags of flour out and cutting them with a pocket knife, dragging the powder around. He kept the lines thin so the bags would stretch far enough to wrap around the castle and a few bigger piles of flour every here and there, blowing it to smithereens. Hopefully. That was the plan.

Once that was done, Luffy ran to Master's den and pulled the lighter out of the desk drawer. The room was already ransacked and messy with torn paper and objects thrown about the room carelessly while the others had taken all the money and maps in a bag carried on the back.

By the time Luffy had set everything up, the slaves had already fled and were waiting at the treeline behind the house, but in the shadows so if one of the masters came over, they were unseen. How they hoped none of them would come to the back of the house.

The two men who were going to catch Luffy after he jumped from the window hid behind a bush so they werent seen. They all knew there was a chance Luffy would be seen jumping out of the window, but they just had to deal with that possibility.

Luffy had ordered everyone to take Zoro's things besides the fancy outfits and furniture to behind the house, far enough where they wouldn't be touched by the flames. They left a little something for master too, as well as something for Mistress. Goodbye presents, you could say.

Luffy said goodbye and good luck to the last of the slaves who werent to help Luffy near the end.

The soon to not be slave stretched in the corner of the house, farthest from the stairs he'd be running up, a wet rag already wrapped in front of his mouth and nose to help with the smoke. Then he began to run.

Luffy lit the first bottle on fire and threw it at the corner wall, shattering it and causing the first burst of flame to rise up. He immediately ran to the next room and the next, throwing two bottles at the entrance door so no one could come in as he continued. He became increasingly worried at the speed of the flames. He just hoped he could reach the third story on time before the fire caught up to the flour and blew the house up. He ran faster and faster, the smoke finally reaching him and burning his eyes. But he couldn't afford to stay low while he ran because that would make him slower.

Bottle after bottle erupted in flames, following him on his frightful journey through the castle. He yelled in worry once he saw that the flames had burned through the thin wood and reached to the hallway leading to the hidden stairs. Now he was in trouble. The flames were getting closer to the main stairway, but that was his only other option now. He sprinted up the stairs, getting ahead of the fire as it quickly licked up the walls. He was panting by now. This was taking too long! He screamed when he saw that the trail of flour was closer to the stairway that he thought.

By the time Luffy was near his escape window, the flames were feet away from the trail of flour. He was pumping adrenaline, but that didn't calm the overwhelming fear and worry. But he had to keep moving or he really would die.

Once he finally got to the window, he leaped as far as he could to the men who caught him. He told them to "get down!" as the fire finally reached the flour, and the third story blew up in a terribly loud explosion that caused the roof to collapse and shambles to fly up in the air.

Luckily, Luffy, nor the other two, were injured, though the explosion hurt their ears a bit.

"Run!" Luffy shouted as they ran across the grounds to their escape route. Then they heard Zoro shouting at them.

Zoro was reading when he noticed something smelled like smoke. He couldn't see the fire yet, and it took another thirty seconds for him to see the flames wrapping around the side of the castle and to the front. Then the front door caught on fire and the wood began to sizzle. The castle was on fire! He stood up quickly, his book falling to the ground. His parents stood and looked at the burning building in horror. Their home!

But Zoro found something strange. He heard no screams. Surely the slaves would be afraid and screaming. But then things clicked in his mind.

" _I want tonight to be special."_

" _And I'll love you forever."_

" _I'm not looking forward to it, but it's necessary."_

" _You'll just get in the way."_

Zoro's eyes widened in shocked understanding. Then he saw something leap from the third story wall before an explosion blew the upper story up. He ran to the back of the house as fast as he could, calling Luffy's name. He heard a panicked voice shout "Run!" Zoro sprinted faster, rounding the side quickly. He never ran like this. He wasn't running away from something. He was running because he didn't want to lose someone.

He finally saw Luffy and two bigger men sprinting towards the fence, a dead clump of shrubs on its side, revealing a deep hole dug under the gate. He knew Luffy heard him because he ran even faster.

"Go! Go!" he shouted at the two men. They reached the gate and crawled under, but the second man's foot got caught and it took an extra long five seconds for him to get through. Luffy was the last to go in and crawled under the manmade ditch as Zoro was getting closer. The second before Zoro reached the gate, the three slaves that werent slaves anymore rolled a thick tree trunk that had been chopped down into the ditch, blocking someone from crawling after them.

The two made eye contact as Zoro reached the fence and grabbed the bars. "Don't go!" Zoro shouted at Luffy. Luffy stared at him for a few seconds, his face showing absolute despair and regret. But he turned around and ran off after his friends, into the woods and out of sight. "Luffy!" Zoro shouted louder. But Luffy didn't come back, and Zoro had no way to follow them. He felt tears go down his face. He looked down at the giant log and saw Luffy's small notepad. The first few pages were orders of food, but as he turned the pages, he saw proof that this had been planned long ago.

There were tally marks for each type of alcohol, the names of each kind written next to them. He saw three marks next to the word "flour". Then there were diagrams of the castle's halls, with x marks every few centimeters, along with a drawing on the castle from the side view that had flames marked on the first and third story.

There was a drawing of a cockroach since Luffy didn't know how to write that word. There were two tally marks there too. Words saying "three in each room" were on the pages with the drawing. He couldn't believe how much planning this must have taken. And he hadn't caught on at all.

There were notes about things found in the castle. Then there were numbers. The time that he and Luffy had recorded for him running around the castle.

He looked at the last page that read " _say goodbye to Joshua"_ with double stars next to it, and " _tell Zoro I love him"_ with three stars next to it.

As Zoro looked at the proof of mutiny, he felt no anger. Based on Luffy's face, and the things he had said last night, this was very hard for him. Yet he couldn't feel any shred or anger or hate for the slaves who were now free.

He knew it must have started when his dad carelessly killed one of their family members. He thought it was impressive the mutiny hadn't happened long ago. He couldn't blame their need to make revenge. He knew that if someone killed Luffy and didn't care, he'd kill them. But Luffy had only destroyed "master's" life and dream. Zoro's family lost all of their money, and Zoro couldn't care less. He just wanted Luffy. Even if that meant living on the streets, he'd be with the person he loved.

Zoro put the notebook into his pocket and turned around to look at the destruction. He had to give it to them; this was clever. He looked to the side and saw a large bundle on the ground near the fence. He walked over to see his bed sheets covering a lump and found most of his belongings had been brought outside, away from the fire. What broke his heart even more was the piece of paper pinned to the blanket with a sewing needed. It read, " _I love you,"_ and on the back, " _You are free."_

There were dots of dried liquid on the small sheet, obviously Luffy's tears. Zoro looked to the right and gave a small smile. There was a pile of their chokers sitting next to Zoro's bundle, and a single bottle of wine and a glass next to his father's present. He couldn't help but laugh at this, letting out a sob at the same time. There was also a face mask laying on Zoro's books. He put it on to try and keep the smoke inhalation to a minimum.

His father and mother finally came to the back of the ruined home and looked at what was left for them. His father growled in anger at the boldness of _his slaves._ His mother immediately poured her wine and chugged it down, crying while she did so. Her home… it was gone. The money was gone as well. What would they do?

But Zoro knew where he was going. He was free, after all.

 **Tah Da! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one is pretty short and the last one.**


	7. 8 Months Later

8 months later.

Zoro walked down the street during a festival hosted in the main part of the town he was living happily in with his grandparents. Every day he thought about Luffy, hoping he made it away and was someplace happy, like Zoro was. He wanted to see him again, and tell him he wasn't mad or hated him, for he knew Luffy was expecting that. He walked around, looking for some actually good looking food. His grandparents had given him some money to spend. He liked the humble life, not having money all the time or being trapped in a castle in the middle of nowhere. He did things himself, not using slaves.

He walked around and immediately stopped, his eyes widening as he heard a beautiful laugh. He knew that laugh, and he started to run, pushing past people, trying to find it's source.

When he rounded the corner of the street, he saw a mess of black hair moving in the crowd, with two shorter people walking with him. They were all holding hands so they werent separated. Zoro saw each of them with food in their mouths. Luffy had no way of carrying the food since both hands were being held, so he just walked around with a corndog in his mouth.

Zoro momentarily stopped and felt tears start to form in his eyes. He pushed past everyone and tapped Luffy on the shoulder as the free teenager laughed again. Luffy turned around and saw Zoro, his smile leaving immediately. He made a sad noise as his food fell to the ground.

"Hi," Zoro said simply, looking Luffy up and down. He looked so much healthier than when Zoro had last seen him. His bare arms werent skinny anymore, and he was obviously bigger around the waist, no longer super skinny. His hair was cut better and his clothes were simple. A red vest and blue shorts. Zoro loved it. He no longer wore a slaves uniform and the clothes suited him.

"H-hi…" Luffy said, looking away in sadness. He didn't want to see Zoro hate him. The other two looked away as well. They didn't want to lose Luffy, which was why they were holding his hands. But they knew this was a private moment and didn't watch.

"I am not angry and don't hate you, Luffy," Zoro told him with a genuine smile. "Thank you," he said, surprising Luffy.

"I… I _burned down your house_. I _lied to you_ for over a month and left with no goodbye," Luffy said in disbelief. How could you not hate someone who burned down your home and betrayed you?

"I'm glad you did it. Like you wrote, I am free. I'm living with my grandparents and I've never been happier. _Thank you._ " Luffy smiled in relief and kissed Zoro back enthusiastically when he swooped down on him. The kids on either side coughed awkwardly, but neither teen acknowledged that they were there.

Zoro was breathing a little quickly, his face red again. He liked the feeling and had missed it because it only happened when he was around Luffy. "I have to say… your plan was flawless. Thank you for saving my belongings and leaving what you left for father. Even though I was devastated with your leaving, I couldn't help but laugh at that."

"I feel bad that I lied to you…" Luffy told him guiltily.

"If you had told me, I would have helped," Zoro replied back. The two kids turned around and stared at him in disbelief. "I would have. If burning down that house meant freeing you and ruining my father's life, I would have gladly helped. And I would have gone with you afterwards."

Luffy gave one of his bright grins at what Zoro told him. "I wish I had told you now. But… If you hadn't agreed with us or tried to stop us… it would have ruined the plan," he said softly.

"I understand completely. I've missed you so much. And I love you, too," Zoro said, thinking of the small piece of paper that was in a frame on his bedroom wall. "Do you live here?"

"We live a little further out of the town limits. We're all still living together in a nice house. It's not a problem there is four of us to a room. We lived in a basement for our lives after all. Thank you," Luffy said.

"For what?"

"For the money we stole from you to buy it," Luffy replied with a laugh. "Most of us have jobs now and the younger ones are going to school. Me and the others are teaching ourselves how to read and write. We're having a lot of trouble with math, though," Luffy explained with a smile.

"Are you all happy?" Zoro asked. The three all nodded. "I'm glad." Luffy smiled again and thanked him. "Can I see you again?" Zoro sounded a bit desperate. He didn't want to lose Luffy after finally being reunited with him.

"Of course!"

 **All done! Hope you enjoyed.**

The end


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